


True Colors

by irlwhizzerbrown, whizzerdbrown



Category: Falsettos - Lapine/Finn
Genre: Abuse, Abusive Family, Abusive Parents, Angst, Anxiety, Depression, F/F, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Happy Ending, High School AU, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Mental Instability, Mentions of Physical and Sexual Abuse, Modern AU, Panic Attacks, Pining, Slow Burn, Slurs, Violence, i hope this is as good as i'm planning for it to be, jason is marvin's younger brother in this, yeah this is sad, yikes!!!!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-23
Updated: 2018-02-04
Packaged: 2019-03-08 09:05:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 30
Words: 32,950
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13454985
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/irlwhizzerbrown/pseuds/irlwhizzerbrown, https://archiveofourown.org/users/whizzerdbrown/pseuds/whizzerdbrown
Summary: Whizzer Brown is a pretty boy. Popular, cheerful, leader of many clubs, in many sports, very confident in everything he does. Everyone looks up to him in some way - they want to be his friend, they want to be him, or they want to date him.Marvin Blumenfeld is quite the opposite. A lone wolf with just a few close friends, a member of the debate team just so he can fight without getting in trouble, on the mathletes team because he's smart and the school requires everyone be in at least two extracurricular afterschool activities.No one would expect much to happen if or when these two would cross paths, but Marvin finds himself intrigued by wondering just how much of Whizzer is fake, and Whizzer finds himself intrigued by wondering nearly the same thing about Marvin.





	1. cut my hair.

He stared at himself in the mirror for only a minute longer before his brown eyes dropped to the pair of scissors in his already shaking hand. Did he want to do this? Did he _really_ want to do this? He kept questioning himself. 

Did he want this? Would he regret it? What all would he lose?

And then

Why _wouldn’t_ he want this? Why _would_ he regret it? Did he really even _have_ anything to lose? 

Whizzer Brown knew that he wasn’t in too great of a state of mind right then, but he raised his hand anyway and, in a swift motion, without so much as a second thought, chopped off a large strand of his hair. 

The rest of it came easy after the first snip. Moments later, he was someone new. His once shoulder length hair was no longer, and instead a good majority of it was scattered surrounding him on the bathroom floor and in the sink. 

Part of him missed it. Part of him was glad it was gone. 

He took a breath, ran a hand through the still a bit longer bit on the top, pushing it back from his face. With some styling, it could look nice. Right now, it was unwashed, unstyled, kind of raggedy. 

He glanced around him at the brown hair on the floor, before carefully stepping away from the ring of his own hair, and sinking himself down into the warmth of the bath he’d started just before the sudden urge to get rid of a good portion of his hair. 

\- - - 

“Whizzer!”

Whizzer turned, giving a bright grin at the sound of his best friend’s voice. 

Cordelia approached him from the other end of the school hallway, her pace quick and bouncy, and promptly ran her fingers through his hair. Through the top part, the longer part, and then down to the fuzzy, just slightly longer than shaved, sides. 

“Oh my _god,”_ she gushed, “you look so _handsome!”_

He laughed, letting her mess with it. He could hardly keep his own hands out of it, himself - it was so _light._ He didn’t regret it, either. He was glad that it was gone. “You think so?” He questioned with a knowing grin.

She playfully hit his arm, her own face beaming at him. “Obviously. Now people can actually see all of your face, since it’s not all hidden under your hair! And, of course, your hair still looks just as flawless as it did before. Better, actually. It looks healthier.”

He just let her go on, smiling. Cordelia was always so full of energy, so full of excitement and compliments. It made him feel narcissistic, having her as his best friend in the whole world and spending nearly all of his freetime hanging out with her, with how many compliments she spewed out without even thinking about it. Really, though, Whizzer knew this wasn’t special treatment. It was just who she was.

She complimented everyone she saw, it seemed. Cordelia Abrams was just the type of person who loved doing good deeds, loved brightening people’s days, loved seeing people happy, and loved being happy. What a wonderful person. Whizzer wished he could be more like her, without having to fake and pretend it. He wished he could be just as effortlessly _good_ as she was.

The bell rang, cutting Cordelia off mid-sentence. They had five minutes to get across the school and make it to their class in time - but it would be fine. Even if they did end up late, which they actually _probably_ wouldn’t, the teacher liked them and wouldn’t say anything.

Whizzer offered his arm to Cordelia and she took it, and the two booked it to class.

 

****

 

Whizzer Brown had cut his hair. Not like it necessarily mattered to a guy like Marvin, but he definitely noticed it when the taller boy waltzed into their Advanced Placement Psychology classroom, with Cordelia at his side. They made it in just a minute and fifteen seconds before the bell, Marvin noted uselessly to himself, as he glanced down to his watch.

Marvin had the exact times of each bell memorized. Every bell meant that there was one less class in his way. One less class until he was home, until he was able to go straight to his room and lock himself up for the day - unless his brother wanted to play chess, or needed help with homework while their parents were still at work, of course. 

But Marvin liked Jason. He liked socializing with his brother, even if he was a total six years younger than him. Jason was smart for his age, and he was mature. Talking to him, sometimes, made _Marvin_ feel like the younger one. But that didn’t matter to him, because being a good role model for his little brother was probably the most important thing to him. 

But, yes. Marvin _currently_ could not stop thinking about how Whizzer had cut his hair. It looked good. Really, Whizzer _always_ looked good, but Marvin wasn’t ready to admit that out loud just yet. Internally, to himself, sure. He’d been admitting that to himself since Marvin first ran into Whizzer their freshman year.

See, Marvin was really intrigued by Whizzer Brown. Whizzer Brown was super popular, everyone in the school knew him. But he wasn’t stuck up, like a lot of the popular kids were - at least as far as Marvin could tell. He’d only ever actually interacted with the guy once or twice, but those few times were pleasant, if you didn’t count Marvin’s awkwardness. He’d overheard Whizzer talking to other students, though, which led him to believe what he did. 

No matter who Whizzer had been talking to, it seemed - no matter whether they were popular just like him, or if they were more of an outcast - he was kind. He was rather considerate, it seemed. And compassionate. And just - kind. Whizzer was kind. And he was pretty. And, god, the guy must be busy.

This was what Marvin knew just from overhearing things: Whizzer founded and lead the school’s Gay Straight Alliance, was in drama club (and frequently got lead roles), was in the photography club, was a member of both the baseball team and track team, and was the first and currently only male cheerleader for during football and basketball seasons. And all of that was just from _overhearing_ things. It made Marvin wonder what else Whizzer did. And it made him wonder where the _hell_ Whizzer found the time to do all of that shit and still manage to keep up good grades. 

Marvin’s attention was grabbed by everyone else in the class immediately going over to touch and play with Whizzer’s hair. Marvin didn’t know how Whizzer could stand it - he had _obviously_ put time and effort into styling it, and now a bunch of people were playing with it with their grubby hands. He moved in his seat a bit to get a closer look. Whizzer looked… uncomfortable. But he was smiling and holding conversation, like it didn’t bother him at all.

That was strong. Marvin would have shoved them all away.

 

****

 

Whizzer’s mind was swimming. So many different people were touching him, touching his hair, touching his head. He couldn’t stop himself from thinking about where all those hands had been, about how many of these hands hadn’t been washed in awhile, about all of the _germs_ that were now in his hair, on him. It was gross. He felt disgusting. 

But he smiled. He nodded when asked questions. He answered. He didn’t let them know because - because it wasn’t _nice?_

He didn’t necessarily care about being nice, if he was being honest. He couldn’t care less about being nice - so what if he was mean, and so what if the school actually hated him instead of loved him like they did? He just _was._ He just was nice, and he kind of actually hated it, but he wasn’t going to do anything about it. Well, not right now, at least, because he was still painfully aware of all of the _dirty hands_ in his _hair-_

And then the teacher walked in, and requested everyone get to their seats. Whizzer had never been more thankful. 

“Nice haircut, Mr. Brown,” she stated as she walked past him to get to the front of the room, a smile on her face. And then she was writing on the whiteboard, and the class began. 

Whizzer glanced over at the guy he sat next to - Marvin Blumenfeld. Whizzer knew everyone’s names, here. 

“Thanks for not touching my hair,” he whispered to the guy, leaning in closer while the teacher’s back was to them.

Marvin looked surprised at first, before he offered a shrug. “I can’t believe you just stood there and let them do that. I would’ve shoved them all.”

That made Whizzer grin. “I wanted to.”

 

****

 

Well _that_ came as a surprise.


	2. happy-ish.

Jason was home before Marvin was. That was usually the case - they were in different school buildings, and Jason’s school started and let out earlier than Marvin’s. The boy was sitting on the couch with his nose in a book when Marvin came in, dropping his backpack on the floor and kicking off his shoes. 

“Bad day?” Jason asked, without even looking up from the encyclopedia-sized book he held. 

Marvin flopped down on the opposite end of the couch. “Not necessarily.”

“Stressful?”

“Closer, I guess.”

Jason peered over the top of his book, looking over his older brother. “You talked to new people?”

Marvin raised an eyebrow. “How do you know?”

“You get stressed when you do that,” Jason shrugged, closing the book with a rather loud slam and setting it on the cushion between them. “Was it someone tiring?”

“No,” Marvin answered slowly. “And I didn’t even really talk to him, not much. Just a few whispers when we were supposed to be taking notes.”

“A few whispers too many.”

He chuckled, shaking his head. “Yeah. Guess so. How was your day?”

Jason sighed, sliding down in his seat. “We got a new seating chart and I don’t like the people I sit with. They’re loud and I can’t focus on my work.”

Marvin watched him. He remembered the times when small things like that could ruin the day for him, too. Now he was just used to sitting around loud people that he didn’t like, because that was 99% of his school’s population. (The other 1% was Trina Bell and Charlotte DuBois, the only two people that he would actually call his friends, and then Whizzer. Because… he was _Whizzer.)_

“You’ll get that a lot more in high school,” Marvin decided to just point out. 

“Do you think mom will let me switch to homeschooling?”

“I don’t know.” Truthfully, their mom probably wouldn’t mind. Their dad probably wouldn’t either. The biggest problem with Jason doing homeschooling was just that their parents weren’t home until after school on weekdays, usually around dinner time and sometimes a bit later. Their mother was a doctor, and their father was a lawyer. 

Their parents were great. Although they couldn’t be home as much during the week, they made up for it on the weekends. Every Saturday morning, their mom would get up early and cook a nice, big breakfast, and they would just hang out for the rest of the day. She’d cook a big dinner too, at the end of the day - Marvin sometimes helped her with that, even though he was shit at cooking - and sometimes they’d have a movie night before returning to bed. Then, on Sundays, their parents would usually take them out to do something. It didn’t matter to Marvin now as much as it did when he was younger, but it was important to Jason, so Marvin would always tag along for whatever adventure they were in for the day. 

Really, their parents kind of spoiled them. They were a wealthy family, and, for the most part, both Marvin and Jason were allowed to do whatever they wanted, whenever they wanted. So Marvin wouldn’t be surprised if their parents found a way to get Jason homeschooled - whether it be have Marvin stay home to teach him, or physically go out and hire a tutor or something. 

Marvin added that detail on, and Jason nodded. 

“Sometimes it makes me feel bad,” Jason said. “That mom and dad do all this awesome stuff for us, when there are some people out there with bad parents.”

 _Oh._ Marvin never really thought about that. Half of the things Jason said, though, Marvin never even considered. That kid really was too smart for his own good. “Yeah,” he shrugged. 

The boy went on. “Do you think those people are happier than we are?” 

“What do you mean?”

“Like, because they aren’t always expecting things to go their way. They don’t know what good things will suddenly just happen. It’s all a surprise for them,” Jason explained his thoughts, fiddling with his shirt sleeve. “It just seems like they’d be more happy because even the smallest things would be amazing to them. Small things that people like us would just expect to happen.”

Marvin stared at him for a minute, before laughing and reaching out, ruffling Jason’s hair. “You’re way too smart, kiddo. You really are.” 

 

***

 

Whizzer quietly slipped into his house. His dad’s car was parked in the driveway now, unlike when he had left that morning. His mom was still gone. And his dad was asleep, Whizzer knew this from routine. 

Times like this were a blessing. It was almost like he was alone in the house - perhaps not as great, because he had to stay quiet and couldn’t have friends over - but he didn’t have to worry about socializing with his parents for another few hours. He tiptoed up the stairs silently, grabbing the few things he needed, before sneaking back down and straight back out the door. 

Not caught. Not seen. He doubted that his father, whenever awake, would even know that he stopped by. 

Whizzer got back into his own car, after tossing his bag into the backseat, and sat there for a moment to breathe. It was always stressful doing things like that when he knew his father was sleeping in there. The man did _not_ like being woken up, and Whizzer knew that bit from experience. 

He shook his head to himself, and pulled back out of the driveway, back on his merry little way. 

 

***

 

Marvin sighed when his phone rang. It was a little after five o’clock, and both of their parents were home. His dad was resting, and his mom was listening to Jason talk about something he learned in school. 

“Hello?” He huffed into the receiver, without even bothering to check who it was that called him. 

“Jeez, Marv,” Charlotte’s voice came in. “Cheer up.”

He only groaned in response. 

“Are you busy?” Charlotte questioned again. “You aren’t, I bet. We’re going to go to the gym - Cordelia invited us. She said that he was going with Whizzer–“

Marvin kind of tuned the rest of it out. Whizzer invited them to hang out at the gym? _Marvin_ was supposed to hang out with _Whizzer_ at the _gym?_

Yeah, uh, _no._

Whizzer was most definitely in shape, from all of the sports and shit that he did. Marvin was… absolutely _not_ in shape. He struggled through P.E. during freshman year, and he hasn’t done anything since. 

“- I’ll pick you up in ten minutes. Be ready!” 

“Wait, Charlotte-“

“No buts.”

Then she hung up. Marvin groaned - there was no use in arguing with her. He was on the debate team, sure, but so was Charlotte, and Charlotte was _really_ good at it. 

So, he shuffled around his not-so-clean room and managed to find his old gym bag. 

When he came down the stairs with that stupid bag, it grabbed his mom’s attention. “Are you going to the gym? I thought you hated working out.”

“I do.” Marvin nodded. “Charlotte wants me to go.”

His mom laughed. She loved Charlotte. “No choice then, huh? Tell her I said hi!”

“Tell her I said hi, too,” Jason threw in. 

And, yes, his dad loved Charlotte, too. Marvin and Charlotte had been friends since the beginning of middle school. Their families were pretty close.

“Yeah, I will,” Marvin stated, before stepping out the front door. Charlotte pulled in his driveway shortly after.

He huffed overdramatically as he got into her car, and she rolled her eyes at him. “It’ll be _fun,_ Marvin. You really need to get out more. You need more friends.”

“I have you and Trina. I don’t need anyone else.”

Charlotte rolled her eyes. “Does Trina even actually like you?”

Marvin rolled his eyes. “She doesn’t _hate_ me.”

Trina and Marvin got along, sort of. It was often a lot of arguing, but Marvin assumed that it was because he could just argue with anyone and everyone whenever he wanted. He could have been assuming wrong, sure, but he honestly doubted it.

Charlotte dropped that conversation, at least. “Oh well,” she sighed. “Aren’t you at least a little bit excited to go to the gym?”

Marvin thought about it. Yeah, he supposed it _would_ be nice to hang out with friends, but - he didn’t know Cordelia all that well, he’s only talked to her once or twice, and he didn’t know Whizzer all that well either. And, Marvin was sure, that _all_ of them were more in shape and more athletic than Marvin was - which, honestly, really wasn’t hard to be.

“No,” Marvin decided on. “I am not excited at all.”


	3. racquetball.

Marvin reluctantly followed Charlotte into one of the private rooms in the gym, after the two had successfully changed into gym clothes and put their bags away. The first thing he noticed, once in the room, was Whizzer. 

Whizzer was dressed head to toe in white, and was wearing some surprisingly short shorts. He looked… good. Yeah, Marvin’s mind was currently kind of reduced to mush, and his vocabulary wasn’t all that great. 

The second thing he noticed was the actual game that was going on. Racquetball. God. Marvin had never been good at that. Not that he had ever actually been any good at _any_ sports. But Whizzer was. Whizzer was good at this. And so was Cordelia, because she managed to greet them and still continue the game. 

“Hellooo!” Cordelia called cheerfully, hitting the ball with her racquet, sending it flying over the net. 

It was really low, Whizzer probably wasn’t going to-

Marvin was surprised to see Whizzer practically throw himself to the floor to hit the ball. And he did hit it. Cordelia laughed at him, and Whizzer grinned. 

The game went on for quite awhile. As they played, Charlotte eventually called out that she would play whoever won. That ended up being Whizzer. 

So, Marvin was sat up against the wall, with Cordelia at his side, watching Charlotte play Whizzer in racquetball. She wasn’t as good as Cordelia, but she was still pretty good. 

“Are you gonna play winner, too?” Cordelia asked him, leaning over a bit and smiling at him. 

“Uh-“ Marvin mumbled. He hadn’t thought about that. He guessed that he really didn’t have much of a choice. “Yeah, sure.” 

Cordelia brightened, if at all possible. Was she ever upset? It didn’t seem like it. “Awesome!” She cheered. “I’m sure you’ll do great!”

And then Charlotte was handing him her racquet - had she already lost? Was Whizzer that good? Marvin was dead. 

Still, though, he stood up and took the stupid thing, and found himself walking over to the net. 

Whizzer grinned at him and, to his surprise, passed him the ball. “Serve it up, Marvin!”

Marvin thought he heard one of the girls point out that Whizzer _always_ started the game himself, but he ignored it by trying to serve the ball. And it… kind of worked. At least, it managed to get over the net, and Whizzer was able to hit it. 

And Marvin was actually able to hit it back to him, a few times. Whizzer hit all of them without struggle, and Marvin kind of felt embarrassed. 

But the girls were cheering, cheering for _him_ rather than for Whizzer, so that did help his confidence quite a lot. 

Either way, confident or not, he knew that Whizzer was going to win. Effortlessly, too. And it was a pretty quick win, too. 

“Good game,” Whizzer called cheerfully, coming up to the net and holding out a hand. Marvin found himself standing there and staring for a moment, before actually shaking the taller boy’s hand. 

“Yeah- Yeah, uh, good game.”

“I want to play Charlotte,” Cordelia suddenly said, coming up behind Whizzer and playfully snatching his racquet. “Take a break, geez. How can you even breathe?”

Whizzer shrugged - though he really didn’t seem to be having much trouble breathing. He was in good shape, Marvin noticed for a second time. _Great_ shape, really. 

Charlotte was taking Marvin’s racquet from him, too - he eagerly gave it up. 

 

***

 

Marvin already looked tired, and they had only played a quick, five or so minute game. That was really the only reason Whizzer gave up his racquet - and also because he knew that Cordelia liked Charlotte. He wanted to give her the chance to bond with her. So, he motioned Marvin over to the wall, to sit and watch the girls play. Marvin seemed hesitant, for some reason, but he did eventually join Whizzer at the wall.

“Do you play much?” Whizzer questioned him, curious, to start conversation. He couldn’t stand the silence other than the racquetball game going on, not unless he was actually the one playing.

Marvin laughed. “No. Haven’t done anything gym or sport related since sophomore year.”

“Really? You’re pretty good.”

“Not as good as you.”

Whizzer took the compliment without thinking about it. “Mm. Most people aren’t.”

Marvin glanced at him briefly, then went quiet. The sound of the ball hitting the floor, then a racquet, then repeating was all Whizzer could really pay attention to, now. 

“How many sports do you play?” Marvin asked, suddenly. It almost made Whizzer jump.

“Oh, uh,” he had to think about that. “Only three, for the school. Baseball, track, and cheerleading. But I do a lot of stuff outside of school. Here.”

 _“Only_ three?” Marvin questioned him. “Three is a lot.”

Whizzer shrugged. “I quit swimming at the end of last year.”

“You used to play _four_ sports?”

“Yeah,” he shrugged. 

Whizzer was aware that he played more sports than most of the kids in their grade. More than anyone in their school, actually. It was to keep himself busy - the only reason he quit swimming was because the chlorine was messing with his hair. It might not be as bad now that it was shorter, but he wasn’t willing to try it.

“Aren’t you stressed?” Marvin asked. “You’re in a shit ton of clubs too, aren’t you?”

Whizzer shrugged, smiling at Marvin. “I’m always doing _something,_ but I think it’s nice.”

“How do you _ever_ do homework?”

“Study hall, when I’m not aiding. And whenever I get free time in other classes, or clubs or sports. And then, sometimes, I just have to stay up late during the week and sleep all day on the weekends. If I’m even free then.” He answered, nonchalantly. It wasn’t a big deal to him. Extracurriculars kept him busy, usually kept him away from home, and let him spend time with the people in school that he _really_ wanted to spend time with. It was nice.

Marvin shook his head. “I couldn’t do it.”

“I bet you could. It just takes some getting used to.”

And then Cordelia missed the ball, and Charlotte won the game, and Whizzer couldn’t stop himself from jumping up and yelling out that he wanted to play her.

 

***

 

And now Cordelia was sitting with Marvin again. Marvin was more than happy to sit along the sidelines, just watching the others take turns playing. Watching _Whizzer_ play. Whizzer was competitive, but kind about it. He didn’t seem like the ‘sore loser’ type - but Marvin wouldn’t know, he’s never seen Whizzer lose. Did Whizzer ever lose? Marvin wasn’t sure, but he sure wouldn’t be surprised if the answer to that question was ‘no.’

Marvin was probably taking too much time staring at Whizzer, observing him. He was focused, on the game only. On the _ball_ only, it looked like. Almost like nothing else mattered to him. He could see Whizzer’s muscles from his pretty revealing outfit - Whizzer wasn’t extremely muscular, not like bodybuilder standards at lass, but just slightly muscular. Just enough definition that you could tell that he worked out. It was… very attractive, Marvin wouldn’t lie. _Whizzer_ was very attractive.

“Do you like him?”

Marvin jumped. Cordelia was suddenly super close, whispering to him like a child would. She wore a childlike smile, too.

“What?” Marvin found himself whispering back.

“Whizzer,” Cordelia explained. “Do you like him?”

“No.”

Cordelia stared. Maybe Marvin answered too quickly? Too aggressively? 

“I mean,” he added on, trying to save himself, “I don’t really _know_ him that well. He’s an okay guy, I guess, I don’t _dis_ like him.”

“Mhm,” she hummed, sitting back upright. “You would _like_ to get to know him, then?”

Marvin turned it around on her. “You like Charlotte.”

To Marvin’s surprise, Cordelia didn’t so much as blink. “Yeah, I do. She’s wonderful. I’m just trying to find a way to ask her out.”

Not knowing what to do now, Marvin set himself up for something that he probably shouldn’t have done, because he knew absolutely _nothing_ about this. “I’ll set you guys up. Whizzer and I can be your wingmen.” And now he was lumping _Whizzer_ in this, too? God, what was _wrong_ with him.

But Cordelia appreciated it. She pulled Marvin into a hug - one that he didn’t get to return, because he was too shocked at first, and then it was over in a millisecond - and beamed at him. “Thanks Marvin!”

Yikes.


	4. weekend.

It wasn’t until they all started to leave the gym that Marvin approached Whizzer for another conversation. He pulled Whizzer away from the girls, making him slow his pace a bit, before leaning in to whisper something.

“Hey,” he stated, “you and I are Cordelia’s wingmen-”

“To get her and Charlotte together, finally?” Whizzer whisper yelled, excitedly. “Hell yeah, I’m in! I’m _great_ at getting people together.”

Marvin laughed at him. “Alright, good. You just tell me what I need to do - because I have no clue how this stuff works.”

Whizzer clapped his hands together, thinking. “Okay. You’re really close with Charlotte, right?”

“Yeah, sure-”

“Great! Okay, I need you to hint to her that Cordelia likes her. Don’t come right out and say it, just _hint.”_

Marvin nodded slowly, like he didn’t actually understand what Whizzer was saying. It was fine though, Whizzer knew. Because even if Marvin actually gave it away, there was no telling if Charlotte would actually believe him or not. Plus, Whizzer himself was going to be the one arranging the hard stuff.

Except he didn’t know how he was going to go about doing this. He wanted it to be cute, obviously, but there were plenty of different ways to make it happen _and_ to make it cute. He could set them up for a blind date. He could get together a flash mob. He could have Cordelia leave Charlotte letters in her locker. There were so many possibilities. 

“Here,” Whizzer said, handing his phone to Marvin. Marvin stared at him. “Put your phone number in there, silly. So we can keep in touch and make sure that Cordelia and Charlotte end up together.”

“Oh.” Marvin mumbled, starting to type in his number. “Yeah. Here.”

Whizzer gave Marvin a smile when he returned the phone. “We’re going to be the best matchmakers, Marvin. See you on Monday!” 

And then they separated, all four of them, for the weekend. 

\- - -

Whizzer hated weekends. Especially when he wasn’t _busy_ on the weekend. He snuck in his house just like earlier today, passing through until he made it to his bedroom. He’d managed to avoid seeing either of his parents so far that day, and he wanted to keep it that way. 

He put away all of his things - gym bag and school stuff - before quietly making his way to his bathroom, just across the hall. His parents hardly ever came upstairs, thankfully. 

He ended up back in the bathtub. He’s been taking a lot of baths recently. They were supposed to help you relax - or, at least, that’s what he’s read on the internet. They haven’t done much for him. 

Whizzer sighed, sinking down far enough to where everything other than his face was submerged. It was nice, sure, but nowhere near as relaxing as everyone online said. He’s even tried lavender or bath bombs or changing the lighting - even all three of those things at once. It didn’t do anything. 

Maybe Whizzer was just too stressed. Maybe he just wasn’t trying hard enough. What _was_ hard enough? 

He took a breath, then submerged his face, too, under the water. He held his breath until it hurt, until he felt dizzy, then he sat up again. He let himself catch his breath, shaking the hair out of his face. 

He wanted to go back to the gym. He wanted to run laps around the track at the school. He wanted to stand alone at the batting cages and hit balls way out of the park. He wanted to scream. 

Instead, he got out of the bathtub and went to bed. 

 

***

 

Marvin went to bed almost as soon as he got home. He might have only played three or four games of racquetball while at the gym, but it was _exhausting_ to someone who never went. His family was nowhere to be seen - probably asleep. 

Jason’s light was on as Marvin tiptoed upstairs. He peeked his head in to see the boy playing chess by himself. 

“Don’t stay up too late,” he advised. 

Jason jumped, but quickly recovered. “How was the gym?”

Marvin rolled his eyes. “I’m going to bed. Make sure to be asleep by one, at the latest.”

“Okay,” Jason shrugged, but Marvin wouldn’t be surprised - or upset - if Jason ended up staying up later than that. 

Marvin returned to his own room, and fell asleep in his clothes. 

\- - -

And he woke up to the scent of various breakfast foods coming from the kitchen downstairs. Bacon, sausage, eggs, pancakes. He heard his father’s voice, and his mother’s laughter.

Marvin _loved_ weekends. 

He forced himself out of the warmth of his bed, and peeked in Jason’s room again. The kid was still asleep. Probably up past one. Marvin wasn’t going to tell anyone. 

“Good morning, Marvin,” his father greeted, as Marvin found himself in the kitchen. 

“Morning.”

“How was the gym last night?” His mother piped in. 

His father grinned, “You went to the gym?”

“With Charlotte!”

Marvin shrugged. “It was fine, I guess. Some of Charlotte’s friends were there, too. They were nice.” 

His mom sat across the table from him. “What did you do there? Sit ups?”

“Push-ups?” His dad tried. 

They were teasing him, now. 

“Jog?”

“Run?”

“No, walk.”

Marvin found himself grinning, even though it really wasn’t all that funny. “None of that. We played racquetball.”

He talked to his parents about the whole thing, answering all of their questions - whether they were stupid or not - until Jason eventually woke up and joined them downstairs. 

They were in the middle of eating when Marvin received a text message. 

_hey, it’s whizzer. :^)_  
_you free tonight?_

Marvin stared at the phone. Was this an invite to hang out? Was it about Charlotte and Cordelia? He eventually came up with a response. 

**to: Whizzer**  
_Yeah, probably. As long as Char doesn’t decide that she suddenly wants me to hang out with her. Why?_

Good enough, Marvin decided. Chances were good that he would be free. 

Another text came back rather quickly. 

**from: Whizzer**  
_sweet!_  
_what’s your address?_  
_i’ll come pick you up later tonight._

What? Marvin didn’t even know what they would be _doing._ And, technically, he didn’t even _agree._ It would be kind’ve hard to decline at this point, though. 

**to: Whizzer**  
_Alright. What time?_

**from: Whizzer**  
_you’ll see :^)_


	5. drive.

Whizzer couldn’t force himself out of bed. That was fine, though, because he didn’t even want to get up yet. He just laid in bed and texted Marvin, and he was fine with only doing that. He didn’t even _need_ to get up. Well, okay, he didn’t text Marvin for all that long. He got Marvin’s address, and then neither of them really said anything else. Then Whizzer’s phone went back on his bedside table and he rolled over onto his other side, pulling the blankets back over his head. 

He ended up going back to sleep, and sleeping for quite awhile longer. He didn’t wake up until awhile after both of his parents had left for work, around three or four. Whizzer finally got out of bed and got dressed, at six. 

Yeah, it was late. And, no, he didn’t usually wait this long. He was generally up before noon. 

And then, he showed up at Marvin’s house around eight. He didn’t bother to get out of his car, just texting Marvin and saying that he was there. It took a few minutes, but Marvin eventually came outside. 

“Why did you come so late?” Marvin questioned in greeting. 

Whizzer shrugged. “I was busy earlier,” he lied, starting to drive after Marvin had gotten in. 

Marvin sighed. “Right, okay. Where are we going, anyway?”

“Shh. Just enjoy the drive.”

To be honest, Whizzer didn’t know where they were going, either. He had kind of just been planning to drive. 

He liked doing that. Just getting into his car, when it was dark, rolling his windows down, blasting some music, and driving. Aimlessly driving - sometimes on highways with other cars, sometimes on empty country roads. Tonight, he decided to stick to the country roads. And instead of the music, he would have Marvin’s company. Conversation. 

“Why did you invite me to hang out all of a sudden?” Marvin asked. “This isn’t about Cordelia and Charlotte, is it?”

Whizzer rolled down the windows despite the cool of the evening. “No, it isn’t,” he admitted. _I don’t want to be alone._ He didn't say that, though. No way he would admit that. “I want to get to know you. We’ve gone to the same school for years and we’ve never really talked.”

“So you pick me up at eight thirty at night and decide to just drive? Are we even going _anywhere?”_

“Enjoy the ride, Marvin. Relax.” 

He could feel Marvin’s stare. Whizzer smiled, glancing over at him for a brief moment. “Look out at the stars, or something. Stick your hand out the window and feel the wind. It’s therapeutic.”

“Therapeutic?”

“Yeah! It makes you feel better.”

He could tell that Marvin rolled his eyes. 

Whizzer huffed. “Fine. Would you rather drive?”

He didn’t give Marvin a chance to respond, before just pulling over. Nobody else was on the road anyway. 

“Go on,” Whizzer motioned Marvin. “Get out. We’re switching.” 

Once they switched spots, Marvin glanced at Whizzer. They were still stopped. “You seriously don’t want to go anywhere in particular?”

“Nope,” Whizzer smiled at him, leaning his own seat back a bit, then opening up the sun roof. “Just drive. Go whichever way feels right to you. Let the car and the night decide.” 

 

***

 

This was weird as hell. Whizzer was much different that Marvin had thought he was. Not that it was… _bad,_ per se. It was just unexpected. Which made it interesting. Made _him_ interesting. 

“Alright,” he eventually agreed, getting back onto the road. And he drove. 

He just… drove. Like Whizzer had told him. And it was kind of nice, he guessed. It was almost like he didn’t have to pay as much attention. If he missed a specific turn, it didn’t matter. Because they weren’t going anywhere in particular. 

It was quiet for awhile, before Whizzer sat up and connected his phone to the AUX cord. Then, the car filled up with music. It was a bunch of indie type stuff, stuff that Marvin never listened to but that practically screamed Whizzer’s name. 

Marvin glanced over at Whizzer one time, when they were stopped at a stop light. Whizzer had his hand out the window, and was waving it along in the wind, to the tune of his music, with a little smile on his face. It brought a smile to Marvin’s own face. 

He had always found Whizzer attractive. Before they started talking like friends, too. Now, seeing Whizzer like this… waving his hand outside the car window, with that cute, endearing smile on his face. Marvin was in love. He really was. He quickly turned his attention back to the road, trying to shake these thoughts away. They were not helpful.

Minutes passed before Whizzer pulled his hand back in the car and leaned in to turn the music down, putting his attention onto Marvin, now. 

“Do you ever just think about the sky?” Whizzer asked. 

“What?” Marvin was caught off by the question. It almost sounded like something Jason would say. 

Whizzer shrugged. “Like, the clouds and stuff. And space - all of the stars and the other planets.”

“Oh. I mean, no, not regularly.”

“It’s all so neat.” He was looking back out his window again. “Something’s out there. Something _has_ to be. I mean - Earth can’t be the _only_ planet with life on it.”

Marvin raised an eyebrow. “You believe in aliens?”

“Guess you could say that. But not, like, the big headed grey things that come and abduct people - that’s bullshit.” 

Marvin laughed as Whizzer continued. 

“I believe that they’re like us. That they’re like Earth, but maybe just a little different. I bet there’s someone on some other planet that’s thinking the same thing about us right now, too.”

It was amazing how much Whizzer sounded like Jason right now. Jason could have said the exact same things to Marvin, and he wouldn’t have even questioned it. 

He started to say something in response, but then Whizzer turned up the music - _loud,_ too - and opened the sunroof all the way and stood up, sticking his head out of it. 

Marvin internally freaked out - this was _not_ safe. “Whizzer-“

But Whizzer seemed so happy. He let out a loud whoop, holding his arms out at his sides. 

 

***

 

He felt so _free._ He could never do this when he was alone, because he wouldn’t be able to steer. But since he had Marvin driving, he could. Maybe he’d start bringing Marvin out on his late night drives more often. 

The wind blew through his hair, hit his face, his arms, rustled his clothing. Whizzer closed his eyes and cheered again, letting out a happy laugh. 

Right now, he didn’t care about how stupid he might look. He didn’t care about the fact that this was illegal. He was happy, and he was having fun. 

At the next stop sign, Whizzer finally sat back down, but he was still unable to get rid of that big grin on his face. 

Marvin glanced over at him. “You know you could have-“

Whizzer shushed him. “Let me have fun, Marvin. Don’t be a party pooper!” 

Whizzer was surprised, but Marvin actually chuckled at that. 

And Marvin continued to just drive, and the music still blared through all of the open windows, and Whizzer stuck his hand back out the window to feel of the air breeze past them. 

They drove for _hours,_ neither one of them paying attention to the time. They were having fun, both of them. Whizzer’s bright, enthusiastic attitude slowly got passed onto Marvin, and they were both constantly laughing and grinning and joking - it felt like they’d been friends forever. 

Around midnight, it started raining. Whizzer insisted that Marvin pulled into this little clearing, far away from everything else. He cranked up the music even more, then got out of the car and motioned Marvin to do the same. They left the doors open and stood in the rain, Whizzer with his face up to the sky and his arms held out once again, and Marvin with his hood up, grinning as he watched Whizzer’s childish actions. 

“Come on!” Whizzer yelled to him, over the music, as he held out a hand. “Dance with me!”

And Marvin was dragged into the dance, both of them giggling and twirling around like a brand new middle school couple at their first school dance. The rain got heavier and heavier, and the two of them were completely _drenched,_ but neither of them cared. 

They were having fun. They were happy. They felt free. 

Eventually, they got back in the car. Marvin gave Whizzer his hoodie, which he had left in the backseat and forgotten about when Whizzer first picked him up. Despite Whizzer’s height advantage, it was just a slight bit big on him - probably because Marvin was chubbier than him. 

And they were on the road again. This time, it was Marvin’s turn to turn the music down to say something. 

“Will you stay at my house tonight?” He asked. 

Whizzer was surprised. 

“We don’t have to go back yet,” Marvin said. “Just, when we do. Because we’re already here, and because it’s late. You probably shouldn’t be driving home alone this late at night.” 

Whizzer laughed, then, and cranked the music back up. 

\- - -

Whizzer did end up staying at Marvin’s house. They didn’t get back until nearly five in the morning, and had to quietly sneak up the stairs and into Marvin’s bedroom. Whizzer borrowed some of Marvin’s clothes for pajamas - meaning that he slept in one of Marvin’s oversized sweaters and his own boxers only. 

“Tonight was fun,” Whizzer said to Marvin, as they laid in bed. Marvin had managed to convince Whizzer to share the bed with him, because neither could agree to one of them sleeping on the floor. He laid on his side, facing Marvin. “It was _really_ fun. I can’t remember the last time I had that much fun.”

Marvin raised an eyebrow. “More fun than hanging out with all of your club and sports friends?”

“Oh, god, yeah. So much more fun than that. It can’t even compare.” 

And Whizzer meant it. He just felt… so free to be himself that night. And it was fun. And it was fun being with Marvin throughout all of it. 

Marvin grinned. “I had a lot of fun too. Now go to sleep, my parents will be up in, like, two hours and they already want to meet you.” 

It was the first night that Whizzer managed to fall asleep with such ease. The first night that he managed to fall asleep feeling just so… happy. Elated. Light. _Free._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter was probably my favorite thing that i’ve written in such a long time ???


	6. sunday.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> just a quick warning for some abuse & violence at the end of the chapter.

Marvin woke up after Whizzer did. In fact, Whizzer was sitting upright in the bed, rapidly texting on his phone, when Marvin woke up. He just laid there and watched Whizzer. 

Even after just waking up, with bedhead and still looking pretty exhausted, Whizzer was gorgeous. Marvin shook the thoughts away. There would be someday that Marvin would get in trouble for thinking things like that. 

“Good morning,” Whizzer murmured after awhile, putting his phone aside and just laying back down. He really did look exhausted. 

“Morning,” Marvin repeated. “You look tired.”

Whizzer only made a noise of agreement, closing his eyes. “My mom called.”

“Oh. Do you have to go home?”

“I don’t know. I didn’t answer. I texted her instead.”

Marvin was a bit surprised. He, himself, _always_ answered the phone if either of his parents were calling. Even if he was busy. “Oh.”

They both heard Whizzer’s phone buzz. He didn’t bother to get it. “I’ll check it later.”

“Will you get in trouble?”

Whizzer shrugged. “Probably. Maybe not. It’ll be fine.”

 

***

 

Marvin was clearly concerned, but Whizzer didn’t want it. He knew that Marvin didn’t want him to get in trouble. If only he knew. 

Whizzer forced his eyes open again. It was early, way too early to be awake, especially after being up so late the night previous. “Don’t worry about it, Marvin. It’s fine.”

“Should you not have stayed?” 

“I’m glad that I stayed.”

“Okay, that’s good, but your parents-“

Whizzer shushed him. “Let’s just pretend that she never called me, alright? I’ll go home eventually. And if she’s mad when I get home, I’ll deal with it.”

She usually was mad. Maybe if he waited it out for long enough, she’d forget. Or be less mad, for something. Whizzer didn’t know. 

He’s never done this before. Sure, he’s gone out late, but he was always back home before his parents woke up. He wondered, briefly, if she was worried about him. He doubted it. 

His phone buzzed again. He knew Marvin heard it. And Marvin just looked so concerned… 

Whizzer sighed, sitting up and grabbing his phone. His mom was telling him to come home now. That he was in trouble. When _wasn’t_ he in trouble with her? And then another text came in. 

If he didn’t come home now, she was going to get his dad. 

 

***

 

Marvin sat up, too, watching Whizzer open his messages. Watching Whizzer’s expressions change. First anger, or irritation, something along those lines. Then shock. Then- was that _fear?_ The color seemed to almost drain from his face.

“Whizzer?”

Whizzer seemed to snap out of something, like he was lost in his thoughts. The color was back to his face. He looked fine. “Yeah?” He questioned, looking up from his phone.

Was Marvin just imagining things? He could have sworn that Whizzer had just looked horrified by something he he’d seen on his phone - presumably the text from his parent - and now he looked _just_ fine. Like nothing had happened. “Everything okay?” Marvin tried, though he was pretty sure that he wouldn’t get the truth.

“Yeah,” Whizzer answered, shrugging. Marvin watched him completely power his phone off. “My mom just wants me home before dinner tonight.”

Marvin didn’t know what to think. On one hand, Whizzer’s response looked and sounded genuine. On the other, Marvin doubted that it actually was, because of the reaction Whizzer had when he first looked at his phone. 

“Oh,” Marvin mumbled. “Okay.”

\- - -

They ended up getting up, getting dressed, and then Marvin took Whizzer to meet his family. 

“He’s one of the people I played racquetball with,” Marvin explained to his parents, as Whizzer ended up in a conversation with Jason. 

His parents liked Whizzer instantly. He just gave off a good vibe - he was friendly, energetic, all smiles. Marvin kept thinking of the terrified look he had seen on Whizzer’s face not even an hour ago. 

He glanced over at Whizzer and his brother - they were talking about space. _That_ reminded him about the thing that Whizzer had said last night, when they were driving. How Whizzer’s words had sounded just like something Jason would have said. 

“You believe in aliens?” Jason asked him. 

Whizzer shrugged. “Yeah. But I think they’re more humanistic than what media portrays them to be.” 

“Oh,” Jason nodded. “Yeah. I see that.”

“There has to be something out there,” Whizzer said, almost parroting what he’d told Marvin. “I just can’t make myself believe that, out of all of that space - which is about six trillion miles, I must point out - _Earth_ is the only place with life. There has to be something else.”

Jason was smiling. “You’re smart.”

Whizzer laughed. “Well, thank you. But not really. It’s not intelligence that makes you think about things like this, kiddo, it’s how much you care. If you don’t care, you’re not going to learn anything.”

When Marvin glanced over at his parents, they both were smiling. 

“He’s a good influence,” His mother was saying, softly, to his father. He was nodding in agreement. 

“Wow,” Jason said, thinking over Whizzer’s words. “You should be a motivational speaker.”

“You think?”

“Yeah. You’d be good at it.”

 

***

 

Dinnertime seemed to come _way_ too soon. He spent the day trying to play chess with Jason (and listening to both Marvin and Jason laugh at him when he lost, which was every single time), and conversing with him and his parents. It was a wonderful evening. 

And then he had to leave, because he’d had the bright idea to say that he had to be home for dinner. 

Marvin walked him out to his car. “My family loves you,” he was saying, chuckling. 

Whizzer laughed lightly. “I’m glad. They’re awesome.”

“I’m sure you’re more than welcome over again. They’ll probably be asking about you all the time.”

He grinned and shrugged. “I have that effect on people.” He opened the car door, getting in, and rolled the window down to smile at Marvin. “See you at school tomorrow.”

This had been such a fast weekend. It was so much fun. Marvin was a great guy - when he wanted to be. When he would let loose, when he would forget about his stupid bad-boy, asshole persona that he often put up during school. 

Whizzer didn’t want to go home. He didn’t. He didn’t want to go. He just wanted to get out of this car and go back inside with Marvin, with Marvin’s family. But, no. Marvin waved to him, he waved back, and forced himself to drive away. 

He considered not going home right away. He considered going out to just drive again. But, if he was being honest, he didn’t think he could actually handle being alone. Not now. Not tonight. 

So he went home. 

His father was waiting for him as soon as he got in the door. 

“Where were you?”

“With a friend.” Whizzer answered honestly, flinching away from the man. 

“And you didn’t think to tell us?”

Whizzer stayed silent. 

“You could have been dead and we wouldn’t have known.”

“You wouldn’t have _cared.”_

It was quiet. Whizzer knew he was right, he didn’t need his father to lie and say that they would have cared. That’s what his mother would have done. 

His father stepped in closer, practically cornering Whizzer. He reeked of alcohol. There was a crazy look in his eyes. Whizzer wouldn’t have been surprised if he was about to get killed right then and there. 

“You listen to me, boy.” His voice was that low, scary-calm that sent shivers down Whizzer’s spine. “You will _not_ backtalk me like that. And you will _not_ leave overnight without getting our permission ever again. Do you hear me?”

Whizzer wanted to cry. But he stood his ground, holding them back, looking away. 

“Do you _hear me?”_

His father leaned in even closer, putting his face up to Whizzer’s. All Whizzer could see was his father’s crazy eyes. 

“Yes,” Whizzer managed. 

“Yes, _what?”_

Whizzer didn’t say anything. _Yes, father,_ was what he was supposed to be saying. But there was no way in hell he was about to call this man his father. 

His cheek stung where he was suddenly hit. And then he was hit again. And again, and again. 

\- - -

Whizzer crawled into bed late that night, pulled his blankets over his head, and finally let his tears fall.


	7. tired.

“You know we love you,” his mother was telling him, as she sat across from him at the kitchen table. 

Whizzer twirled the spoon around in his cereal. “Yeah.” 

“He didn’t mean to hurt you.”

“Okay.”

“He was just drunk.”

“I know.”

“He had a bad day at work.”

“Okay.”

It was silent again. Whizzer felt his mother’s stare on him, as she tried to come up with something else to tell him. Something to try and convince him that they were a happy family. He knew it was all a lie. It’s been like this since he was young. 

Whizzer couldn’t stand it anymore. He stood up, cleaning up his uneaten breakfast. “I’m going to school.”

“Have a good day, honey.”

Whizzer paused for a moment. “I have practice after school. I’ll be home late.”

“Have fun.”

He just grabbed his backpack and left the house. 

 

***

 

Marvin ran into Whizzer at school. He always came to school early just to avoid traffic and having to talk to other students. Whizzer was coming in early, too. 

“Hey,” Marvin greeted, approaching Whizzer at his locker. To his surprise, Whizzer jumped. 

_“God,_ Marv, you nearly gave me a heart attack.”

Only his parents and Charlotte called him ‘Marv.’ It was kind’ve weird to hear Whizzer call him that. But… it was nice, too. The way it rolled off of Whizzer’s tongue, the tone in his voice as he said it. It was nice. 

“Sorry,” Marvin grinned. 

Whizzer was laughing, now. “Oh, yeah, I bet you are.”

“You’re here early.” Marvin observed aloud, leaning against the locker next to Whizzer’s. “Club? Study session?”

“Nah, not today.” Whizzer answered. “I just woke up earlier than I usually do, and I hate moping around the house in the mornings before school. I’m gonna go run the track - you wanna join?”

Marvin scoffed. “I don’t run. I’ll watch you.”

 

So, he did. He sat outside in the bleachers, at the bottom, watching Whizzer run. He playfully cheered Whizzer on whenever he passed the bleachers, and it made him giggle each time. 

Marvin didn’t know how he did it. Whizzer must have sprinted at least six laps before finally stopping, and he wasn’t even all that out of breath. 

“Are you even human?” He asked him, while pointing that out to him. 

Whizzer laughed, only a little breathlessly. “Who knows? Maybe I am, maybe I’m not.”

And then they headed back inside, because school was about to officially start in around ten minutes. Sadly, Marvin didn’t have any other classes with Whizzer, so that was the last time he got to see him until the end of the day. 

\- - -

“Have you seen Whizzer?” 

Marvin looked up from his backpack, turning to the voice at his side. It was Cordelia. She looked concerned. “I haven’t seen him since this morning. We don’t have any classes together today. Is something wrong?”

Cordelia sighed, fidgeting with a bracelet around her wrist. “Did he seem- off? This morning?”

 _“Off?_ Off, like how?”

“Like, different. Spacey. Sad.” 

Marvin shook his head. “No. No, he seemed fine.”

She sighed again. Marvin didn’t think he’d ever seen her upset. “He was like that at lunch. He wouldn’t eat. And he was just- quiet. And whenever I asked him if something was wrong, it was like he just… snapped back to reality, and was fine again, but only for a minute or two. And then he was spaced out again.” 

He thought about when Whizzer was over at his house. When he had gone from looking terrified to being completely fine again. 

“Does he have anything after school today?”

She nodded. “Cheerleading.”

“Let’s check there?”

So Marvin and Cordelia left down the hallway together, and peeked into the gym where the cheerleaders should be practicing. They didn’t get very long of a look when a voice came up from behind them. 

“What are you doing?”

Both of them turned. 

_“Marvin?”_

“Uh- Hey, Trina.” 

Trina was a cheerleader. Marvin forgot about that. 

“What are you guys _doing?”_ Trina asked, pushing her hair back out of her face with a hair tie. She was clearly just now arriving for practice. 

Marvin decided to just be honest, this time. “We’re looking for Whizzer. We knew you’d have practice today, so-“

Trina rolled her eyes, walking past them and into. the gym. “Brown!” She called, her voice echoing off of the walls of the gym. A group of people - a bunch of girls and Whizzer - turned to look at him. “People are out there looking for you.” 

Whizzer looked confused, almost a bit concerned, but he got up and went over to the door, passing Trina as she went over to the group of other girls. 

 

***

 

Who was looking for him? He wasn’t in _trouble,_ was he? Had someone seen one of the bruises left on his arm where his father had grabbed him when he tried to get away last night? Was it reported? Would he have to talk to teachers about child abuse? God, his father would kill him. Quite literally. 

So, Whizzer was extremely relieved to see that it was only Marvin and Cordelia. 

“Hey!” He greeted them, cheerfully. 

“Hey,” Marvin murmured back. 

“Can we talk, Whizzer?” Cordelia said instead. 

Oh, no. Whizzer hated that question. Nothing good _ever_ seemed to come out of it. “Uh- Yeah, okay. What’s up?”

Cheerleaders kept walking past them, so Cordelia pulled both Whizzer and Marvin into a different, less populated hallway. Nobody ever came down here. Which kind of freaked Whizzer out, because that meant that all of this was super serious.

“Are you okay?” Cordelia asked him.

Whizzer was taken aback by the question. He raised an eyebrow. “Yeah? Why wouldn’t I be?”

Both of them stared at him. Whizzer felt an internal panic. Did he give the wrong answer? Should he had said something different? Awkwardly, he shrugged. “Why?”

“You spaced out a lot during lunch,” Cordelia said. “You were so quiet.”

“Oh.” 

Oh. Yeah. He couldn’t stop thinking about what he would have to deal with when he got home. Was his father still mad? Would he be drunk again?

“Whizzer?”

He snapped back to reality. Now Marvin looked concerned, too.

“Yeah, sorry,” Whizzer said, shaking his head and waving a hand dismissively. “I’m just tired. I stayed up late last night and woke up too early this morning. I’m fine.”

Marvin sighed. “Whizzer, don’t lie to us.”

“I’m not lying,” Whizzer lied. It felt like his heart stopped. If they continued questioning him like this… “I’m _fine,_ Marvin. I’m just tired. I’ll go to bed early tonight and I’ll be just like normal tomorrow.”

Cordelia and Marvin shared a look. Whizzer knew that neither one of them believed him. But Cordelia looked back at him, “I have to go - I have to talk to one of my teachers about a club. Whizzer, seriously. I’m always here. I’ll never judge you. If something’s wrong, talk to me.”

She stepped forward and pulled Whizzer into a hug, and it was all Whizzer could do to not breakdown right then and there. Still, he put on a smile. “I will, if something’s ever wrong.”

He watched as she turned and left the hallway. 

Then it was just him and Marvin. Marvin stared at him. It was obvious that Marvin wasn’t going to give in so easily.

“Marv-”

“No, stop,” Marvin cut him off, holding up a hand. Whizzer flinched unconsciously. “Why did you flinch?”

He played it off. “What?”

“You flinched.”

“Did I?”

 

“You did, I _saw_ you. Why?”

Whizzer was silent.

Marvin was, too.

They just stood there, looking at each other. Marvin was questioning him with his eyes. Whizzer couldn’t do it anymore. He looked away, starting to walk back down the hall, “I have to go- I need to be there for practice-”

“Is someone hurting you?”

Whizzer froze, with his back to Marvin.

“I have to go-”

“Is someone hurting you, Whizzer?”

He was suddenly couldn’t breathe very well. “No,” he lied, sharply. “No one is hurting me. I’m _fine.”_

And then he continued walking, and didn’t stop until he was back in the gym with the other cheerleaders.


	8. tears.

Marvin was half asleep when his phone blared at his side, nearly startling him enough to make him fall out of the bed. He sat up, blinking blearily at his bright phone, trying to make out the message.

**from: Whizzer**   
_want to go for a drive again?_   
_i’m outside._

He stumbled out of his bed, glancing out the window. Whizzer’s car was right in front of his driveway. He glanced at his phone - it was two in the morning. Marvin sighed, and slipped out of his pajamas in favor of his everyday clothes, then snuck outside. After the conversation that they’d had in the hallway, Marvin wanted to spend this time with Whizzer. Even if it was two in the morning on a school day. 

Whizzer was already in the passenger side, already had music going, already staring out his window. Marvin got in the driver’s side.

“Hey,” he said.

Whizzer turned to look at him. Marvin has never seen someone look so tired before. “Hi,” Whizzer greeted, giving a small smile.

“Are you alright?” Marvin tried, but he somehow knew that he wouldn’t get an actual answer.

“Just drive.” Whizzer said, resting his head against the side of the car. “Please.”

There was something in Whizzer’s voice. Desperation? Marvin only nodded, driving off. 

It was quiet between the two of them, only the sound of Whizzer’s music going and some of the outdoor sounds of animals or other cars. It was peaceful, if it weren’t for the tension Marvin felt. Not necessarily between them, but just from Whizzer. It was like Whizzer was silently brooding to himself, and Marvin could feel all of it radiating off of him. All of the stress, the sadness, the fear. 

Marvin wanted to say something. He wanted to question Whizzer, to get Whizzer to confide in him. He wanted to _help._ But he didn’t want to pry, because he didn’t want to make Whizzer hate him.

“Why did you ask me that?” Whizzer spoke up. His voice was soft. Sad.

“Ask you what?”

There was a moment of quiet, Marvin could feel the hesitance in the air before Whizzer finally answered. “If someone was hurting me.”

“Because you flinched when I held up my hand. I wasn’t close enough for it to look like I was going to hit you.” He answered. 

Whizzer took in a deep breath, pulling his knees up to his chest in the seat. He was silent again.

Marvin tried saying something else. “I just want to help you, Whizzer. Something is obviously going on. I won’t tell Cordelia, if you don’t want me to.”

“Please don’t tell her,” Whizzer said immediately. “Don’t tell her anything. Don’t tell her about after she left in the hallway. Don’t tell her about right now. Please, don’t tell her.”

“I won’t. I promise.”

And then Whizzer was crying. It took Marvin awhile to notice it, because he was so quiet. He didn’t say anything, but he quickly found a place to pull over. Whizzer didn’t even seem to notice. 

He just sat there. Knees up to his chest, face hidden in his hands. Silent sobs shaking his body. Marvin felt his heart break.

“Whizzer, hey,” Marvin murmured, keeping his voice soft. He was no good at this. He wasn’t good at comforting people. What was he doing? He had _no clue_ what he was doing. 

And then Whizzer was hugging him. And Whizzer had his face hidden in Marvin’s shoulder, and he just sobbed. Marvin could only hold him, and awkwardly rub his back. He honestly didn’t care how long they stayed there. He’d hold Whizzer for as long as he needed it, if it would help.

Eventually, Whizzer pulled away and leaned back into his own seat, rubbing his face and trying to catch his breath. “I’m sorry,” he mumbled. And he repeated it a few times. He was sorry, he was so sorry.

“Stop that,” Marvin said, shaking his head. “Don’t apologize.”

“But-” 

“Shh. Just talk to me. What’s going on?”

Whizzer looked scared. 

“I won’t tell anyone,” Marvin said, holding his hand out to Whizzer. “I promise.”

Whizzer hesitated, before letting Marvin hold his hand. Whizzer’s hand was shaking. “It’s just…” He started. “I’m so… _stressed._ I can’t do it. I can’t do everything. I can’t do school. I can’t do clubs. I can’t do sports. I can’t have friends. I can’t keep _them_ happy-”

 _“Them_ who?”

Whizzer looked like he was struggling not to cry again. “My _parents!_ They hate me- no matter what I do. I act right, I get in trouble. I act up, I get in trouble. I show them how I feel, I get in trouble. I don’t show them _anything,_ I get in trouble. And he just- he keeps _drinking._ And she doesn’t _care,_ she doesn’t try to do anything about it. She lies to me everyday, tells me that she’s sorry, that she didn’t mean it, that things would get better - that _he_ didn’t mean to- to _hit_ me! _Multiple times!_ It was an accident, she says, he didn’t mean to, he was just drunk. Bull _shit._ It’s _all_ bull shit.”

Marvin just let Whizzer talk. It was better to let him do that, rather than to try and convince him that his parents cared because - as sad as it was, and as much as it sucked - he was probably right. It was silent for awhile, before Whizzer hid his face in his hands again. Marvin thought for a moment, before speaking.

“Will you stay at my house?”

“What?” Whizzer asked, slowly lowering his hands and glancing over to look at Marvin.

“You can’t stay with them,” Marvin shook his head. “Not if they’re treating you like that.”

Whizzer laughed lightly. “I can’t stay anywhere else. They’ll call the police to get me back, and then I’ll be in even worse trouble.”

“Whizzer-”

“I’ve _tried.”_

Marvin sighed, running a hand through his hair. “You need to tell someone-”

“No-”

“I _know_ it’s hard, I know that it’s scary, but your safety is what matters. It could get worse, Whizzer. It could get so much worse, and I don’t want you to have to be in this situation, and I _know_ you don’t like it.”

It was quiet for awhile, then. Whizzer ran his hands over his face a few times, taking a few shaky deep breaths. He shook his head. “I can’t. I can’t stay with you. I can’t tell anyone else. I _can’t._ I can move out in a year, less than a year - and then I will. As soon as I possibly can. It’ll be fine. It’ll be fine.”

Marvin hesitated. Whizzer was right, but… Marvin couldn’t just let him _stay_ with them if they treated him like that. If they hit him like that. He couldn’t let it happen. “Will you at least come over whenever it gets bad?” He tried.

Whizzer took a breath, then slowly nodded.

“You’re always welcome at my house.” Marvin stated. Then, he added on, to try and lighten the mood, “My family loves you a lot.”

He wanted to add on that he did, too. That he also loved Whizzer. More than anything. But he didn’t. 

They eventually ended up back on the road, and then eventually both of them back in their houses without Marvin ever managing to muster up the strength and courage to mention that. To mention that he loved Whizzer. While laying in bed to try and get some more sleep, Marvin thought about how much he regretted not just saying it then and there.


	9. i love you.

Marvin sat in first period AP Psychology, staring at the empty desk beside him. Sure, he was here early, so Whizzer probably wouldn’t get here anytime soon - especially since Cordelia was also in this class, and the two of them always walked in together. And, the two generally seemed to come in _just_ at the tardy bell. He shouldn’t be as worried as he was. 

His thoughts were interrupted by Charlotte entering the classroom. 

“Marvin, listen,” she spoke suddenly, sitting in the seat in front of him. 

She didn’t even _have_ this class this period. 

“What?” Marvin questioned. 

“I need to tell you something - before Whizzer gets here-“

“Is he here?”

“Yes, now _shush!”_

And then Whizzer was coming in, followed by Cordelia. Cordelia, who was trying to keep him quiet. Whizzer, who was clearly excited about _something,_ but kept getting shushed before he could finish a thought. 

Marvin turned his attention to the classroom door, watching the two of them in amusement. 

Whizzer’s face lit up when he saw Charlotte. “Charlotte! I can’t _believe-“_

“Whizzer!” Cordelia was saying, giggling, as she tried to reach up and cover his mouth. “Hush!”

“I will _not_ hush-“

Marvin cut everyone off. “What is going on?” He asked, confused, but still amused by… whatever _was_ going on. 

“Cordelia told Charlotte-“ Whizzer tried. 

Charlotte spoke over him. “Cordelia and I are together.” 

Whizzer cheered, picking Cordelia up and spinning her around. “My girl is growing up! She didn’t even _need_ wingmen!”

Marvin couldn’t help but to grin. He understood Whizzer’s excitement, now - and he felt it, too. He stood up, pulling Charlotte into a big hug as well. (He didn’t pick her up to spin her, though.) Charlotte laughed, returning the hug. 

 

***

 

It wasn’t until lunch that all of them were reunited again. He couldn’t stop watching Cordelia and Charlotte. 

Whizzer had always thought that the two of them would make a cute couple. And, _boy_ was he right. They were _adorable._ Of course, he was a little disappointed to find out that they had been together for a few days now and hadn’t so much as even texted Whizzer to tell him the news, but he was _so_ glad that they were finally together and happy. 

“You’re allowed to do other things than stare, you know,” Cordelia said, giggling at him. 

“You know I’m a sucker for romantics, leave me alone!”

He really was. He wasn’t actually all that good at being in romantic relationships himself - he always ended up with some douchebag who just wanted him for a fuck anyway - but he _loved_ seeing happy couples. Not, per se, in romance movies, because that was all too fake. But in real life? Hell yeah. 

Like Trina Bell and Mendel Weisenbachfeld. Whizzer was pretty good friends with Trina, because of cheerleading. He didn’t know Mendel all that well, but he did know that Mendel always came to their practices and cheered Trina on. And he also knew that Trina had never been happier since after they finally ended up together, a few years ago. 

Whizzer just wanted something like that. A nice relationship. Something hot, something sweet. Where both of them were happy, for the most part, and definitely felt safe in each other’s presence. Obviously, things wouldn’t be perfect. Whizzer had quickly learned from experience that life in general wouldn’t be perfect - _couldn’t_ be perfect. But he didn’t care. It wouldn’t be like this parents’ relationship, and that was perfect enough for Whizzer. 

He just didn’t know where he could find a relationship like that. He didn’t even know _who_ to look for. 

“You’re jealous,” Charlotte said, teasing. 

Whizzer laughed, and he shrugged. “Yeah, kinda.”

He felt Marvin’s stare on him. 

“Marvin is, too,” Charlotte stated. 

Marvin was quick to disagree. “I am not jealous. I’m happy for the two of you, yes, but I don’t need to be in a relationship.”

“I do,” Whizzer announced. “I _need_ to be in a relationship.”

The girls were laughing at him. Whizzer was only partially kidding. No, he didn’t _need_ it- but he felt like it might make things easier. It might help cut down on his stress. Having someone that he could talk to, and trust, and… just cuddle with, really. 

“Poor boy,” Cordelia teased him. “Poor, lonely Whizzer.”

That made Whizzer laugh. 

“We’ll make flyers,” Charlotte threw in. “Looking for a hot guy for our desperate friend, Whizzer Brown.”

“He doesn’t even have to be _hot._ Satisfactory will do.” He said. 

Marvin was grinning now, too. 

 

***

 

All of this talk about getting Whizzer a boyfriend was making Marvin think. What kind of guys was Whizzer even interested in? Did Marvin even stand a chance? 

Part of Marvin just wanted to playfully, yet very seriously, just offer himself up to be Whizzer’s boyfriend. Because, god, he would kill to be Whizzer’s boyfriend. 

The other, more dominant part of him, however, would not let him do that. Maybe he could talk to Cordelia and Charlotte about that later on? Because it wouldn’t hurt him to talk to them. It’s not like they would make fun of him or anything… Right? 

“All of the good gay guys are taken,” Whizzer mumbled, sounding disappointed. “Or, just not out yet.” 

Oh, yeah. There was that, too. Marvin still hasn’t really come out yet. He was sure that Charlotte knew by now, but he’s just never officially came out. 

“Marvin’s single,” Charlotte said, and Marvin nearly choked on nothing. 

“Is he gay?” Cordelia asked. 

Charlotte laughed. “Look at him!”

Whizzer did just that, looking over him. He was right next to him. God, Marvin felt awkward. He was just about to get up and leave the lunch table. 

“You’re _single?”_ Whizzer questioned him. 

Marvin blinked. “Uh. Yeah, I am.”

Did Whizzer actually think someone like _Marvin_ was taken? God. Marvin hasn’t dated since, like… Middle school. And that didn’t even count. 

“No way,” Whizzer shook his head. 

Marvin gave a small shrug. 

And then the lunch bell rang. Charlotte was quick to get up and grab Marvin’s arm, dragging him off. 

“He’s _so_ interested in you.” She was saying. “And not just because he wants a boyfriend. I noticed that awhile back, I just never said anything.”

“What?” 

“Ask him out!” And then she patted his arm and ran off. 

Oh, god.


	10. road trip, part one.

“Marv!”

Marvin turned around. He was just about to get in his car to drive home after school, when he heard Whizzer’s voice. 

Whizzer was still in his track uniform, and kind of seemed out of breath from practice. “Hey!” He greeted, cheerfully. 

“Hey.” Marvin greeted back, glancing over Whizzer’s appearance. He quickly returned his gaze to Whizzer’s eyes. “What’s up?”

“Wanna skip school tomorrow?”

“I’m sorry, what?”

“Do you want to-“

“Have you ever missed a day?”

Whizzer considered it. “Well, no- But that’s why I thought that skipping just one day won’t hurt! My easier classes are tomorrow. And I don’t have any clubs or sports, so.” He shrugged. 

Marvin stared. “Yeah… Alright. Why, though? What will we be doing?”

The other laughed. “What do we _usually_ do when we hang out?”

“Drive?” Marvin asked. “For a full day?”

“Yeah! I figured we can get started tonight, then go to a hotel whenever we get tired-“

“What are you planning?” Marvin couldn’t help but be suspicious. What was this?

Whizzer pouted. “Please, Marvin? It’ll be fun, I promise. And we’ll be back at school on Wednesday! Just a quick one day road trip.”

Marvin just looked at him, and Whizzer sighed, finally giving in. “Okay, fine, I have a math test tomorrow that I’m going to fail, and if I miss it then I’ll be able to get the answers off of Cordelia after she’s taken it and-“

“Alright,” Marvin was laughing. “That works. But we’re taking my car this time. What time should I pick you up tonight?”

Whizzer’s whole face brightened. “Ten o’clock! No earlier. I’ll text you my address. It’s a date!” And then he jogged off. 

Marvin couldn’t stop the butterflies in his stomach from hearing Whizzer call it a date, even if it wasn’t really the kind of date that Marvin, himself, was thinking of. 

\- - -

He pulled up to Whizzer’s house at exactly ten o’clock. Marvin pulled out his phone to text Whizzer and say that he was there, but Whizzer was already leaving the house, saying _something_ to the woman that seemed to be following him to the door, and then getting into Marvin’s car. 

“Hi!” Whizzer smiled. 

Marvin grinned at him. “You seem to be in a good mood.”

“Yeah!” He nodded. “Today’s been a good day. And tonight and tomorrow are going to be fun. It’ll be great! I’m excited!”

“Yeah,” Marvin agreed, laughing a bit at Whizzer’s enthusiasm, before starting to drive once again. 

Whizzer played his music over Marvin’s speakers mand rolled the windows down again, just as he did in his own car. He was singing along to the music, waving his hand out the window. Marvin wondered if Whizzer knew just how cute he actually was. 

They drove for hours. Casual conversation every now and then, a lot of joking around and friendly teasing, and then there were times of comfortable silence where the just enjoyed the music and each other’s presence. They finally decided to check into a hotel around four in the morning - Whizzer insisted on getting a room with one bed, because it was cheaper. 

Marvin wondered if that was the only reason, or if that was just wishful thinking. 

They laid side by side in the bed, Marvin on his back and Whizzer on his side, turned away from Marvin. It was silent. Marvin couldn’t sleep. Whizzer was already asleep - or, so he thought. 

Whizzer’s quiet, tired voice almost made Marvin jump. “I can’t sleep.” 

“Me neither,” Marvin mumbled. 

He felt Whizzer roll over in the bed. He glanced over at him. They just laid there, staring at each other, before Whizzer spoke up again. “Do you want to cuddle?”

Marvin rolled onto his side, holding his arms out for Whizzer. Whizzer smiled childishly, and snuggled up into Marvin’s arms. 

This wasn’t fair. Marvin had wanted to do this for awhile now - but he wanted to do this _romantically._ He wanted to hold Whizzer like this, and kiss his head, and run his hands through Whizzer’s amazingly soft-looking hair. But wouldn’t that be taking it too far, right now? Hell, Marvin couldn’t even tell him that he loved him yet.

“Night, Marv,” Whizzer hummed, already sounding to be half asleep. 

“Yeah… Goodnight.” 

This wasn’t _fair._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> aaa, gosh, i’m sorry that this chapter is shorter than the others. i just figured that it would be good to end this one here, because of how i’m planning for the next chapter to go. :(


	11. road trip, part two.

Whizzer woke up before Marvin did. He was still being held in Marvin’s arms. It was warm. He felt safe. He smiled to himself, looking over Marvin’s sleeping features, before snuggling himself closer and closing his eyes again. 

He wasn’t tired anymore, but he wasn’t about to sacrifice the comfort and warmth of laying here just because he was awake. No way in hell. He’d lay here until Marvin was up. 

Today was supposed to be the last day of their little road trip thing. Yeah, they had all day, but… It didn’t seem long enough. What if they skipped Wednesday, too? Two days seemed like enough time, maybe. He could propose this idea to Marvin, when he woke up. 

Whenever that was. 

What time was it, anyway? He didn’t know. The sun was coming in through the windows, so it had to be at least nine or ten. Maybe later. Whizzer didn’t care, per se, he was just trying to keep track of how much time they would have left. Not much. Not enough. 

“Are you awake?”

Whizzer opened his eyes again. Marvin was awake. 

“Yeah,” Whizzer answered. “Good morning. You’re comfortable.”

Marvin laughed at him. “You are, too.”

“That just works out well, doesn’t it?”

Marvin raised his eyebrows. 

“Do you want to skip Wednesday?” Whizzer suddenly asked. 

Marvin looked over at him. Whizzer looked back. It was quiet for a moment, just the two looking at each other, before Marvin grinned. “Wanna skip the whole rest of the week?”

Whizzer laughed. “Can we?”

“Yeah, sure. Why not? It’s not like I actually _want_ to go to school, anyway.” Marvin stated. 

Whizzer nodded. He actually liked school. He’s always liked school - it was sort of like his getaway. He could see friends, he could do sports that he liked, he could participate in clubs that he liked. Homework wasn’t great, but it usually wasn’t that horrible, either. But, he didn’t feel as about planning to miss nearly an entire week, either. 

They ended up just laying there for awhile longer, in each other’s warmth, before finally deciding to pull apart and get back on the road. 

“I’ve never just driven like this in the daytime,” Whizzer said, as Marvin started the car. “I usually have somewhere to be during the day.”

“It’s nice,” Marvin shrugged. “It’s warmer during the day. You won’t freeze when you insist to keep every window down.”

Whizzer snickered at that, as he rolled his window down just because. He liked the feel of the wind through his hair, on his face - no matter how chilly it was. 

But it was nice right now. It was nice out, pretty warm, and the breeze felt _amazing._ Especially after Marvin started driving. 

Whizzer could never get tired of being in a car. He loved it. He loved driving, he loved just riding in the passenger seat. And he had Marvin here, now, too. That made it even better. 

 

***

 

Whizzer asked a lot of weird questions, Marvin noticed. It was stuff that he would expect Jason to ask. This next one, though, threw Marvin for a loop. 

“Have you ever loved someone and just not known how to tell them?”

“Uh,” Marvin murmured. “Yeah. I have.”

“What happened?”

Marvin glanced over at him. Whizzer’s attention was directed out the window. “What do you mean?” He questioned. 

Whizzer shrugged. “To the person. Did you ever get to tell them? Did they get away?”

Marvin wondered if Whizzer was doing this on purpose. He wondered if Whizzer _knew._ He probably did, that little shit. If there was anything that Marvin learned from all of this time spent with Whizzer, it was that he was pretty mischievous, and that he knew exactly what he was doing most of the time. 

“I don’t know,” Marvin decided on saying, turning his own attention back to the road. “What do you think happened to the person?” 

It was quiet. Whizzer seemed to be thinking. Marvin let him think. 

“I think,” Whizzer said, turning his head to look at Marvin, “that the person is sitting beside you right now. Or maybe that’s just wishful thinking?”

Marvin grinned. Yeah, okay. Whizzer knew _exactly_ what he was doing. Marvin had figured that much, of course. 

He shrugged, deciding to play the game as well. “Perhaps.”

“Perhaps?” Whizzer sat up in his seat, twisting a bit to turn his whole body to face Marvin, now. “Maybe?” 

He stopped at a stop sign, turning to face Whizzer, too. “Possibly.” And then, pushing all of his previous nervousness aside, he leaned in and placed a kiss on Whizzer’s lips. 

Whizzer was leaning into it, placing one of his hands on Marvin’s cheek, almost as if he was touch starved. Maybe he was. That would explain why he wanted to cuddle last night, too. Marvin… would not be at all surprised if Whizzer didn’t get very many loving touches like this, with the way Whizzer ad described his home life. That’s why Marvin would be here from now on, to give Whizzer all of the love he could ever want. 

The car behind them honked, causing them to jump apart. Whizzer grinned, which made Marvin grin, which made Whizzer laugh. 

“Drive, silly,” Whizzer told him, the smile on his face still big and bright as he reached over and grabbed one of Marvin’s hands. 

Marvin intertwined their fingers, then started driving again. This road trip was suddenly a ton more interesting than it ever could have been before.


	12. mall.

They’d been on one long stretch of road for quite a long time, but neither of them cared. Their fingers were still intertwined, hands resting on Marvin’s leg. Marvin didn’t think he’d ever seen Whizzer happier, and Whizzer was usually a very happy individual. 

“What do you think Cordelia and Charlotte will think?” Whizzer asked him at one point. 

Marvin laughed. “I doubt they’ll be too surprised. Charlotte actually told me to ask you out.”

“Why didn’t you?”

Marvin didn’t give an answer to that, instead just leaning over and pressing a quick kiss to Whizzer’s cheek. 

Whizzer snickered. “Cordelia told me to do the same, actually.”

“Why didn’t you?” Marvin questioned him back, grinning. 

“I was going to,” Whizzer shrugged. “Maybe. I thought about it.”

“But you didn’t.”

“No. I didn’t.”

Marvin squeezed his hand, playfully. “Oh well. We can tell them that one of us did it.”

Whizzer laughed. “Yeah. We’ll tell them that it was super romantic. With chocolates and roses and everything. We exchanged promise rings.”

“Promise ring pops,” Marvin joked. 

“Oh, god, I _do.”_

Both of them were laughing, now. 

They drove for awhile longer, before Whizzer ended up spotting a shopping mall that he insisted they look through. They ended up getting food at the food court, even though Whizzer complained about the choices and how greasy it all was. 

“You can’t get a healthy, well balanced meal in a mall food court, Whizzer,” Marvin told him. 

Whizzer huffed, picking at his fries. “I _know_ that, Marv, but it shouldn’t be so hard to find something that just isn’t dripping with grease.”

Marvin rolled his eyes. Whizzer was definitely over-exaggerating. It wasn’t… _that_ bad. It wasn’t great, obviously, but it wasn’t horrible for low budget mall food court food. Marvin has ate worse, and he was sure that Whizzer had, as well. 

Whizzer perked up again, however, when they decided to actually look around the rest of the mall. Marvin just kind of followed Whizzer around. He’s never really liked shopping or being in malls - but Whizzer sure did. 

Whizzer knew where everything was, which stores had good deals, which ones were horrible deals. It was impressive. And it was fun to watch Whizzer go through everything. All of his feelings towards a certain article of clothing were written over his face, unapologetically. He clearly didn’t care if some of the employees saw how much he hated an outfit, or something. 

“Ugh, gross,” Whizzer mumbled at some point, showing Marvin a shirt. Marvin didn’t get it, it was just a shirt, but apparently Whizzer found something wrong with it. 

They looked around for hours - Whizzer eventually deemed the shopping mall “useless,” and the two left to get back on the road. 

 

***

 

Whizzer liked watching Marvin drive. He was sitting with his feet kicked up on the dashboard, one of his hands holding Marvin’s, and his attention on Marvin and on Marvin only. He wasn’t even paying attention to the music that was playing off of his phone anymore. 

Marvin didn’t seem to notice that Whizzer was staring. Either that, or he just didn’t care at all. He looked focused, Whizzer noted, on the road. 

Marvin was attractive. Maybe not to everyone, but absolutely to Whizzer. Not just physically, either. His personality was attractive. He was funny. He was kind. He was sarcastic. He was kind of an asshole, but, hell, so was Whizzer. 

He made Whizzer feel safe and loved. He was… almost exactly what Whizzer was looking for. 

“Hello?” Marvin’s voice suddenly brought Whizzer out of his thoughts. “Are you in there?”

“Yeah, hi,” Whizzer responded, with a smile. 

Marvin was grinning. “I was starting to think you fell asleep with your eyes closed, or something. Are you okay?”

He nodded, glancing out the window. “Yeah. I’m great. Just thinking.”

“About?”

“Things.”

“Oh, come on,” Marvin grumbled. “We’re dating now. You’re, like, not even _allowed_ to hide things from me anymore.”

That made Whizzer laugh. “Fine, smartass. I was thinking about you.”

They got stopped at a traffic sign, behind a long line of traffic. Marvin turned his attention to Whizzer. “About me?”

He nodded. 

“Sap,” Marvin teased. 

Whizzer grinned. “Takes one to know one.” 

He watched as Marvin lifted their intertwined hands from his knee, kissing the top of Whizzer’s hand. He felt heat rush to his cheeks, for some odd reason. 

Maybe because nobody was this caring with him in relationship. Maybe because he’s never known anything from relationships other than having sex and being shown off as some sort of side piece. 

“You’re blushing.”

“Shut up,” Whizzer laughed, pulling his hand away. He sat up, leaning in and kissing Marvin’s lips. 

It looked like they’d be stuck in traffic for quite awhile. Why waste that time only sitting there and staring at each other, when Whizzer was, quite literally, addicted to Marvin’s kisses. 

Kissing him felt like freezing time. Like everything around them stopped. Like they were the only two people left on the world. Like nothing else mattered, like nothing else was important at all. It also seemed to be speeding up time, because it only felt like a second or two passed before the traffic cleared out and Marvin had to get back to driving. 

The aftermath of kissing him was just as amazing, though. It left him feeling dizzy. Feeling happy. Feeling those stupid butterflies in his stomach. 

Marvin held out his hand for Whizzer’s again, and Whizzer was quick to take it. Every touch from Marvin was electrifying. Every single small brush of skin was enough to make Whizzer want more. He wanted to just constantly be hanging off of Marvin _somehow,_ whether it be just holding his hand, or kissing him, or cuddling with him. He craved the contact. 

He briefly wondered if Marvin could sense his desperation. Marvin never said anything about it. Maybe he just didn’t care. Maybe he really didn’t know. Whizzer wasn’t sure, but he didn’t really care either way - he loved Marvin, Marvin loved him, and Whizzer got plenty of contact in his relationship. 

Whizzer leaned himself closer to Marvin, resting his head on Marvin’s shoulder. He saw Marvin smile as he let go of Whizzer’s hand, wrapping his arm around Whizzer to pull him in closer instead, and placing a kiss to the top of his head.


	13. stars.

Whizzer had stolen one of Marvin’s oversized sweaters from his backpack, replaced his jeans with shorts, and fell asleep. It was only ten, but it had been a pretty long day. And, Marvin wasn’t complaining a bit. The view of Whizzer, asleep in the passenger seat of his car, in his own sweater. Marvin may or may not have taken a picture the next time they got stopped at a stop light, and he may or may not have set that picture as both his lockscreen and homescreen. 

He turned the music down a bit, because Whizzer had it blasting. He thought it was cute how excited Whizzer got about his music. And the volume didn’t bother him, he was just afraid that it would wake his sleeping lover. 

His sleeping lover who most definitely needed the sleep. Marvin hasn’t really said anything, and he wouldn’t say anything just yet, but he knew de a fact that Whizzer hasn’t been getting enough sleep. Not just in the few days that he and Marvin has been hanging out, but in awhile. Judging by how Whizzer described his home situation, Marvin was _sure_ that there were plenty nights that Whizzer had to stay up, scared. 

No, Marvin wasn’t going to bring this up anytime soon. Why should he? Right now, they didn’t have to worry about that. They were far away from Whizzer’s family. It was just the two of them, Marvin’s old convertible, and the road. They were happy. _Whizzer_ was happy. Why should Marvin bring up something that would upset him?

Either way, this road trip would give Whizzer plenty of time to catch up on sleep. And, hopefully, Marvin would be able to convince Whizzer to stay with him and his family instead, when they got back. 

Speaking of which… Marvin hadn’t mentioned any of this to his parents. He was sure that if he explained the whole situation to them, they would understand. They were chill, and they definitely trusted him. If he explained to them that he thought - no, he _knew -_ that he was making the right decision, he wouldn’t be in trouble. Maybe a little ‘Please tell us next time,’ but Marvin could deal with that. 

However… Marvin didn’t even want to _think_ about what Whizzer’s parents were thinking. Did Whizzer tell them anything? Marvin recalled watching Whizzer talking to a woman before getting into his car when they first left. Was that Whizzer’s mom? Marvin hadn’t gotten a good look at her, so he couldn’t tell. 

He shouldn’t be worrying about this. They didn’t have to deal with this right now. They had the rest of the week to figure all of this out. 

“Are you okay?”

Whizzer’s tired voice made Marvin jump. 

He glanced over. Whizzer looked half asleep. Marvin must have _looked_ worried, for someone as tired as Whizzer looked to be able to tell that something was up. 

“Of course.” Marvin answered. 

Whizzer yawned, slowly sitting himself up. He glanced around, out the windows, before pointing up ahead of them. “Do you see that park there?” He asked, while rubbing his eyes. 

“I do.”

“Can we stop there for a bit?”

“Yeah… Why?”

Whizzer was smiling. “You’ll see.”

Marvin shrugged, and did as Whizzer said. Whizzer directed him to a specific parking spot, then got out of the car, motioning for Marvin to do the same. Once they were both out of the car, Whizzer grabbed Marvin’s hand and pulled him to a cleared, grassy patch. 

“Stargazing,” Whizzer finally explained, sitting down in the grass and patting the spot beside him. 

They ended up cuddled up together in te patch of grass, Whizzer pointing out constellations and Marvin pretending that he could see what Whizzer was pointing out. It all looked the same to Marvin. Honestly, Marvin was more interested in just watching Whizzer. Watching the way he got excited about finding another constellation, about how he could name a bunch of the stars. 

“Marv, look- Are you even looking?”

“You’re prettier than any of the stars up there,” Marvin stated, his gaze on Whizzer instead of where he was pointing. 

He watched as Whizzer’s cheeks went a light pink. “Shut up- Look here. It’s Orion!” 

Marvin chuckled, following Whizzer’s point up to the sky. Even as Whizzer tried to point out it all, Marvin just couldn’t see it. 

“You really like the stars.” Marvin stated. 

_“Space,”_ Whizzer corrected. “I like space. My dad used to be an astronomer, when I was young. Before he and mom started fighting, back when he was clean of drugs and alcohol. I was only five or six, but I still remember everything.”

“Really?” Marvin questioned. 

Whizzer nodded, taking the bait to continue on. “He taught me all the constellations. Where and how to find them. He showed me how to find most of the other planets in a telescope, too. We used to pretend to see aliens on the planets, and then we’d tell my mom that they were coming to earth soon. I’d pretend to have conversations with aliens, and he’d always pretend to believe me when I said that my best friend ever was an alien named Dwork. He got me a stuffed alien for my seventh birthday. That was.. the last gift he got me, actually. I still have it. Sometimes… I think, sometimes, that maybe that guy is still in there, inside of him somewhere. Underneath all the drugs and alcohol. Underneath the years of fighting with my mom.”

It got quiet for a moment, both of them just thinking. Marvin glanced over at Whizzer just in time to see him wipe his eyes. 

“Are you okay?” Marvin asked him.

“Yeah,” Whizzer whispered. Marvin pulled him in closer to him, tracing small shapes on his back. Whizzer smiled. “I love you.”

It only occurred to Marvin that they had never actually said that to each other. Not yet. 

“I love you, too,” Marvin said. It felt good to say. It really did.


	14. nightmare.

They slept in the back of the car that night, because Whizzer wanted to see the stars. It was surprisingly comfortable, actually, cuddling up with Marvin in the back of his car. They both fell asleep rather quickly. 

It wasn’t until they actually _fell_ asleep that Whizzer had a problem. He ended up awake a few hours later, from a nightmare. He managed to sneak himself out of Marvin’s hold, and he slipped himself out of the car. 

He couldn’t _breathe._ He thought that, maybe, being outside in the fresh air could help. It didn’t do much, other than send him into more panic. 

Every shadow was presenting itself to him as the tall, dark silhouette of his father. They all seemed to be closing in on him, getting closer. He could practically hear the man’s voice yelling at him, calling him names. He swore he could see one of the shadows raise a hand to hit him. 

Whizzer flinched away, holding his hands up to cover his face, bracing himself for the hit. But it never came. He found himself frozen, though - unable to move his hands away, unable to do _anything._

He thought he heard Marvin’s voice, but he wasn’t sure what was real or fake anymore. It was probably just an illusion - Marvin was still inside the car, still asleep. So, he ignored it. 

He heard his father’s voice, saying multiple things to him at once. It was so overwhelming. Whizzer put his hands over his ears, but it only seemed to make it _louder._

“Stop!” Whizzer tried. “Shut _up!”_

 

***

Marvin didn’t know what to do. He’d tried calling out to Whizzer, multiple times now, and Whizzer just seemed to have not heard him. Marvin didn’t want to approach him just yet, because he didn’t want to make anything worse. 

He didn’t really know what was going on, but Whizzer looked terrified. It reminded Marvin of the night when Whizzer had stayed with him. The look on his face when he’d looked at the text message. 

“Whizzer-“ He tried again. 

“Shut _up!_ Leave me alone!”

He hesitated. Was Whizzer talking to him? He’d like to believe that none of it was meant for him, but he honestly couldn’t tell. 

Marvin stayed quiet, standing by the car. 

“Shut up, shut up!”

Okay, so it wasn’t to Marvin. Because Marvin hadn’t said anything. He knew it might not have been his best decision, but Marvin stepped forward and gently touched Whizzer’s hand. 

 

***

 

Whizzer felt a shock go up his arm, from his hand, and nearly fell from stumbling back. And then everything seemed normal again. 

The shadows were gone, his dad’s voice was gone. It was so… quiet. Whizzer’s head was still spinning. 

His gaze landed on Marvin, who was standing a little ways away from him, a look of concern evident on his face. 

“I-“ He mumbled, his voice soft and shaky. He couldn’t find his words. 

Marvin shook his head. “It’s okay, Whizzer. Come here..”

Whizzer felt a little hesitant, for some reason. He didn’t understand it. He trusted Marvin, he _loved_ Marvin. Why was he so scared?

“It’s okay,” Marvin said again. His voice was softer, this time. Whizzer watched as he held out a hand in his direction. 

He eventually managed to pull himself out of his little frozen paralysis type of thing, and took Marvin’s hand. 

“Just breathe,” Marvin told him, stepping in closer. “Everything’s alright. You’re safe.”

 

***

 

Marvin really didn’t know if he was doing this right. He didn’t know if he was doing _anything_ right. He was just going with the flow. Taking it moment by moment. For now, it seemed to be going smoothly. 

“I’m sorry,” Whizzer apologized. He still sounded terrified. 

“Shh, no, don’t be. Everything is fine.”

Jason got freaked out like this sometimes. Usually when he was in a room with too many people, or when it was too loud. Marvin had gotten used to helping Jason through times like this - but Jason and Whizzer were not the same person, Marvin knew. Not all of the same things that helped Jason would work on Whizzer, and Marvin knew that. He was just going with what he knew. 

Whizzer _did_ seem to be calming down, so there was that. At least Marvin managed to accomplish something - or maybe he didn’t, and maybe it was just Whizzer realizing that he was safe in his own. 

“It was my dad,” Whizzer suddenly said, not making eye contact. “He was in my dream, and I still thought I heard him when I woke up, and he was _everywhere_ and I couldn’t _breathe_ and-“

“Hey, hey, hey,” Marvin mumbled, running a hand through Whizzer’s hair. “Slow down. He isn’t here. It’s just you, me, and the road, remember?”

Whizzer nodded. 

They just stood there for a moment, Marvin watching Whizzer, Whizzer trying to calm himself all the way down. 

“Let’s just go back to sleep,” Whizzer suddenly said, grabbing Marvin’s hand and pulling him back towards the car. Marvin couldn’t help but to notice that Whizzer’s hands were still shaking, but he decided against saying anything about it.


	15. song.

When Whizzer awoke the second time, they were back on the road. It was early in the morning, he could tell by the sun. Marvin was driving, and he had his own music going. Stuff that Whizzer would never listen to. Marvin looked at peace, calm. He was softly singing along to the music, tapping his fingers against the steering wheel to the beat. 

Whizzer let his eyes close again, pretending to still be asleep. He was sure that Marvin would stop singing if Whizzer were to show that he was awake. He just wanted to listen to Marvin sing for the rest of eternity. 

His voice was soft and sweet, but deep. It was unique. Whizzer didn’t think he’d ever heard anything more beautiful. 

He couldn’t stop the small smile from slipping over his face as he listened to Marvin’s voice, snuggling himself further into the sweater that he may or may not have stolen from Marvin earlier in the previous night. It was comfortable, and it smelled like Marvin. Whizzer never believed that everyone had their own scent until now. Whizzer wished that Marvin’s clothes were a little more fashionable, because he’d wear them _all_ the time. 

Whizzer didn’t know how long he’d been laying there, listening to Marvin sing. He could lay there for hours - and he’s probably already laid there for at least one or two. 

“Your music is shit,” Whizzer decided on saying, out of nowhere, “but at least you can sing.”

He laughed lightly when he saw Marvin startle by his sudden speaking. Marvin glanced over at him. “How long have you been awake?”

Whizzer shrugged, “I don’t know. A few songs. Maybe an hour. Maybe two.”

Marvin grumbled, seeming embarrassed. Whizzer thought it was cute. “Why didn’t you tell me you were awake?”

“I didn’t want you to stop singing,” He answered honestly. “It’s nice.”

Marvin was quiet. Whizzer hoped that he would start singing again, but he didn’t.

“Do you want to stop somewhere for breakfast?” Marvin asked, dropping the whole singing topic. 

“Yeah, sure,” Whizzer nodded, stretching as he sat up in his seat once again. “What time is it?”

“Almost nine.”

“Early.” 

Marvin shrugged.

Whizzer didn’t understand how Marvin could be awake enough to pay full attention to the road at this early in the morning. Especially considering that he’d been driving for a few hours beforehand. What time had they even gone back to sleep the night before. Time was an illusion.

“We’re not going to eat more greasy mall food right?” Whizzer asked, mostly just to complain. He hadn’t complained yet today. “That stuff is disgusting.”

He watched with a grin as Marvin rolled his eyes. “We won’t get greasy mall food. And it really wasn’t that bad.”

“It _was_ that bad, but okay.”

Marvin reached over and grabbed Whizzer’s hand, intertwining their fingers. It was such a simple gesture, but it meant the world to Whizzer. He leaned in and kissed Marvin’s cheek.

After driving for awhile, they came across a small diner that looked okay to eat at. Definitely not as greasy as mall food. Their waitress was friendly, and almost immediately asked if they were a couple. Marvin had gone silent at that, probably shocked, but Whizzer didn’t hesitate to say that, yes, they were, and they were a very happy one too.

“How are you so confident?” Marvin asked him, after the woman had congratulated them and left to fill their orders.

Whizzer shrugged. “I wouldn’t call that _confidence,_ I was just telling her the truth.”

“And you weren’t worried about her, like… Kicking us out or something?”

“Why would she?”

“We are two gay high school seniors, Whizzer.”

Whizzer shrugged. “If she kicked us out, she just wouldn’t get our money, and we could find a better diner that will serve two gay high school seniors. It would have been her loss, not ours.”

Marvin just nodded.

“Honestly,” Whizzer decided to add on, “I don’t really care what people think of me. Even if I knew that she was going to kick us out, or shun us, or something, I would have told her anyway. _That_ would be the confidence, Marvin. Looking an obvious homophobe in the eye and telling them that you’re gay, that you’re proud of it, and that you love your boyfriend. And yes, I have done that. Minus the boyfriend part, because I was single then.”

Marvin laughed at him. “You’re something else, Whizzer.”

Whizzer shrugged. “What? If nobody acts out against people like that, they’re still going to treat us like shit. If they see that some of us, more as time goes on, don’t _care_ that they hate us, it won’t be as big of a thing.”

And Whizzer truly believed that. It had proven true for himself, at least. When he first realized that he was gay, around early middle school, he had been scared to say anything about it. He’d told Cordelia during study hall one day, and some people overheard. He got made fun of. When he reacted by being scared or worried about what they thought, it got worse. But once high school finally started, he’d boosted his own confidence and shoved any haters off by not responding at all, or responding with pride. And now he was one of the most popular people in the school.

“I guess so,” Marvin stated, as the waitress came back with their food.

“You really are a cute couple,” she commented.

To Whizzer’s surprise, _Marvin_ took lead and responded first. “Thanks, we know.”

The girl laughed, then told them to enjoy their food and wandered off to go help other customers.

Marvin took Whizzer’s hand, holding it over the table. Whizzer still felt those stupid, happy butterflies from the gesture.

“I love you.”

Whizzer grinned at him. “Thanks, I know.”


	16. sunset.

The week went by so fast. Marvin had never felt time fly like that before. It felt like they had just decided to go on their little road trip, and now they were already on the way back home. It was already Saturday night and, with the way that they were timing things, they should arrive home on Sunday afternoon, with just enough time to get to sleep super early and be ready for school the next day.

“I have never actually dreaded school before,” Whizzer told him as he drove. “And I just… don’t want to go back. I want to drive like this for the rest of our lives.”

Marvin shrugged. “We just have to get through the rest of this year, and then maybe we can. We could move out, and get an RV. Just live in one of those.”

Marvin had never liked driving this much. He always just did it because it was convenient and because he was expected to. He had never once even just _thought_ about deciding to go on a drive just because he could, just to watch scenery or to feel the wind through his hair, or to blast music. And Whizzer changed that. Whizzer changed a lot of things, and Marvin couldn’t be happier.

“Can we really?” Whizzer asked.

He was so pretty. His hair messy, wind blown, a bright smile on his face, illuminated by the orangish-pink light of the sunset. Whizzer was gorgeous. If Marvin was an artist, he would want to capture this image in paint, or something.

“Yeah,” Marvin laughed, shrugging. “I think it would be fun.”

He didn’t just think, he _knew. _Anything - no, _everything_ \- with Whizzer was fun. It was an adventure. It had it’s ups and it’s downs, and sarcastic comments and it’s sweet kisses on the cheek, but overall it was fun. Exhilarating. And, _god,_ Marvin was in love. Had he mentioned that before? How in love he was, how much Whizzer meant to him, how happy he felt to have Whizzer at his side.__

__Oh, god, being with Whizzer was turning him soft._ _

__“Can we stop up here really quick?” Whizzer asked, pointing to a park with a large hill._ _

__Marvin wasn’t at all surprised that Whizzer had made him walk all the way up the hill, rather than just drive it. They sat there together, at the top of the hill, and watched the sun set. Marvin had never done this before, not like this. Sure, he’s seen it once or twice, but it never seemed just as beautiful as it was watching it with a lover at his side._ _

__He glanced over at Whizzer, watching him watch the sky. Whizzer’s gaze was locked straight in front of him, that cute little smile on his face. The same smile that he got when he was talking about something that really interested him, or when he was looking at the stars, or when he and Marvin were cuddling at night and just looking into each other’s eyes._ _

__“It’s so beautiful,” Whizzer said._ _

__Marvin chuckled. _“You’re_ beautiful.”_ _

__Whizzer laughed, finally tearing his eyes away from the sun to look at Marvin. “Hush. Just enjoy the view.”_ _

__“Which one? You or the sun?”_ _

__Whizzer just rolled his eyes and shushed him again._ _

__They sat there together, Whizzer watching the sky, Marvin watching his lover, until it finally got dark. Then they were back on the road._ _

__They were closer to home than either one of them wanted to admit._ _

__

__***_ _

__

__Whizzer felt that he was doing a pretty good job of hiding his intense dread and fear and panic and worry and anxiety and_ _

__Well, okay. He was doing a good job on the outside. On the inside… Oh, god, let’s not think about it._ _

__He’d told his mom that he was going out the night that he left. He said that he was going with a friend to work on an assignment, and that he probably wouldn’t be home that night. He said nothing about being gone for the rest of the week. And he’d blocked his parents phone numbers for the week, so that he wouldn’t be plagued by constant worry and constant threatening messages._ _

__Maybe that wasn’t his best decision._ _

__Whizzer glanced over at Marvin, in the driver’s seat, then his gaze shifted to their hands. It just seemed to be their default, now - to hold hands while Marvin drove._ _

__“I don’t want to go back.” Whizzer decided on saying._ _

__“Me neither,” Marvin sighed. “But we have to. Wish we didn’t, but we do.”_ _

__He leaned over, laying his head on Marvin’s shoulder. He wanted to ask Marvin to pull over and just cuddle for the rest of the night, but he knew that it would delay their time schedule, and they would get home even later._ _

__Whizzer didn’t want that. The later in the evening it was, the more beer his father has had. If he could get home earlier in the evening, his father may only be a little tipsy._ _

__“If you’re worried about your parents, you can stay with me,” Marvin offered. “I know that my family would love having you over.”_ _

__“Only if it gets bad,” Whizzer answered._ _

__He knew it would. It was always bad. If he did one small thing that either of his parents didn’t like, it would get bad. Being gone for an entire week was _sure_ to get him in trouble. _ _

__But it was worth it. God, it was worth it. This time spent with Marvin was so wonderful. So fun. So freeing. It helped him get in touch with things about himself he didn’t know, things about _Marvin_ that he didn’t know. And he’d do it again. No matter what he got from his parents, he’d do all of this over again. _ _

__

__***_ _

__

__It was hours later before Marvin had to drop Whizzer off at his home, but it only felt like seconds. He tried convincing Whizzer to stay with him and his family, multiple times, but Whizzer refused._ _

__“I love you,” Marvin said, one last time, as Whizzer got out of his car for the last time that weekend._ _

__“I love you too.” Whizzer leaned in and kissed him through the rolled down window. “I’ll see you on Monday. Tomorrow. Less than twenty-four hours.”_ _

__Marvin smiled at that. “Less than twenty-four hours.”_ _

__He watched as Whizzer gave one last wave, then turned and went into the house._ _

__Why were they treating this like they’d never see eachother again? Like this was their last moment together? Was this what all relationships were supposed to feel like._ _

__Marvin’s heart hurt as he had to pull out of the driveway to get back to his own house, thinking about what Whizzer might be facing right now._ _


	17. home.

This was horrible. Yeah, okay, Marvin was super glad to see his parents and Jason again, but he couldn’t do anything other than sit there and think about Whizzer. Pray that he was okay, that his parents weren’t doing anything to him. That if they _were_ doing something to him, he would be able to get away, and he would come here, to Marvin’s house, where he was safe. 

“Where were you?” Marvin’s mom questioned. 

He didn’t really… know how to answer that. They were all over the place. “Uh, with Whizzer. We just drove.”

“Drove _where?”_

Marvin shrugged. “Just… drove.”

She sighed. She didn’t get it. She didn’t _understand._ Driving didn’t mean as much to her as it did to Marvin, and to Whizzer. It didn’t used to mean all that much to Marvin. But he was so glad that Whizzer changed that. 

His father cut in. “Did you have fun?”

The question made Marvin chuckle. “Oh, yeah. It was so much fun. Worth whatever lecture I might get from you guys. Worth the weeks worth of schoolwork that I’m going to have to catch up on.”

And then it was Jason’s turn. “Are you and Whizzer a couple?”

There was a very brief moment of quiet, and Marvin was trying to think what to say. He wanted to just lie, to just say no, because he still hadn’t even came out to his parents, and he was scared. 

But instead, he did what Whizzer would have told him to do. “Yeah, we are. We’re happy together.” 

“Congratulations, Marvin,” his mom said, with a smile. 

His dad nodded. “Don’t get each other pregnant.” 

Jason mumbled an “ew” at their dad’s comment, but he seemed kind of happy to hear that Marvin and Whizzer really were together. 

And then his mom was talking about how much schoolwork he had to do, and about how many times Charlotte had been over, asking about him and where he was. 

Was that it? Was it really that easy? His parents didn’t care. Well, okay, they were _happy._ And then it was just pushed to the side, like any other topic. No yelling, no getting kicked out, like he thought there might be. It made him think about Whizzer once again. God, he hoped he was okay.

 

***

 

Almost immediately after stepping in the door, Whizzer was reminded that he was, indeed, home. The place reeked of alcohol, and his mom and dad were already fighting. 

There was glass on the floor, and his dad was holding the broken end of the bottle of _whatever_ that it had come from. That he had probably just finished drinking. 

Whizzer started to slip past them, because they seemed too busy yelling, to get upstairs. And then he felt his father’s hard, tight grip on his arm, pulling him back. 

“Where the _fuck_ were you? Who do you think you _are?_ Did you even _look_ at the texts your mother sent you? Do you know how worried she was?”

Fuck it, Whizzer decided. 

He tried to yank his arm out of his father’s grip. “I was with my _boyfriend,_ and no, I didn’t look at her texts. She wasn’t fucking _worried,_ neither one of you give a shit-“

And then he was knocked to the ground from a hit to the face. His mother was just standing there, watching. Yeah. Bull _shit_ that she was worried. But Whizzer already knew that. 

“You do _not_ speak to us like that. You’re _nothing_ compared to us.”

And he kept going. He kept talking. Telling Whizzer how he was a horrible son, how they should just kill him. Whizzer wouldn’t be surprised if they _did_ end up killing him one day. 

“Shut up!” Whizzer yelled, pushing himself up of the ground. “Fuck off! I don’t _care!_ If you want to kill me, stop being such a fucking coward and _do it!”_

“Whizzer!” His mom yelled. 

Whizzer was slapped again, but this time it wasn’t enough to knock him to the ground. 

“What?” Whizzer questioned her. _“What?”_ I’m finally giving you what you _want!_ You should be happy. After all this time of me being a disappointment, you should-“

His mother left the room. She was crying. 

Whizzer didn’t care. _He_ wanted to leave the room, crying. He wanted to be back out on the road already. 

His father pretended to care. “You do _not_ make your mother cry.”

Whizzer was hit again. In the stomach, this time - he doubled over, and then was kicked to the ground. He watched in fear as his father raised the glass bottle over his head. He was dead. He was so dead. This was the end. 

_I’m sorry, Marvin._

But instead, the impact didn’t come. The glass shattered on the ground just inches in front of him. Whizzer breathed out a sigh of relief, one that he didn’t even know that he was holding in, and started to get up. 

Unfortunately, that wasn’t the end of it. His father grabbed him and _pulled_ him up, still yelling. Things that Whizzer couldn’t even really hear anymore. His father had slammed his head back against the wall, and Whizzer could feel himself fading in and out of consciousness. 

\- - -

He woke up much later, still on the kitchen floor, surrounded in the glass. It was dark, and neither of his parents were there. Part of him considered just laying there. Never getting up. 

But then he remembered Marvin. He remembered school. He needed to get up. 

Despite the pounding aches in… all parts of his body, Whizzer slowly pushed himself up off of the floor, and forced himself up the stairs. 

He took a shower, and he felt a little bit better. Not much could be done to make him feel completely better again. Not now. 

He slowly made his way to his bedroom and just dropped himself in the bed. He didn’t sleep well that night at all. 

 

***

 

It was weird trying to sleep alone after having shared a bed with someone for a full week. Especially if that someone was one that you loved and cared about, and one that you couldn’t stop worrying about. That’s what Marvin was going through. 

He couldn’t get to sleep. He laid there, on his back, staring at the ceiling. He couldn’t stop thinking about the worst situations. 

What if Whizzer wouldn’t come in tomorrow? What if his parents did something so bad to him that he _couldn’t_ come in? Oh, god. 

He tried sending Whizzer texts, but he never got a response. He just hoped that Whizzer was asleep. 

 

***

 

Hearing his phone go off made him feel sick. Not because it was Marvin, but because he kept thinking about what his father said. 

Whizzer picked up his phone and tossed it across the room, then rolled over and pulled his blankets over his head. He couldn’t stop the tears from coming.


	18. monday.

Whizzer didn’t think he had ever run out of his own house so fast. He got cleaned up and dressed upstairs, in the bathroom that his parents never used. He skipped breakfast at home - he could wait until lunch. He braced himself the same way he would for track, standing at the top of the stairs. And-

“Bye I’m going to school,” He yelled as he darted through the kitchen, and then he was out in his car. 

He paused there to take a breath, to relax a little, then turned the car on and drove off. 

He got to school super early. Earlier than _Marvin._ That was fine. He just didn’t want to be at home anymore. Hardly anyone was at school. 

Whizzer slid down the seat of his car, running his hands over his face. Everything still hurt. He’d managed to hide the bruise on his cheek with makeup - which he had bought years previous because of this exact problem. The rest of the marks, on his arms, from being grabbed multiple times, were just covered by long sleeves. 

He jumped when he heard a knock on his window, and he looked over. How long had he been sitting there? It was Cordelia. Whizzer rolled the window down and smiled at her. 

“Whiz, where have you been?” She asked, clearly worried. She came around the car, getting in the passenger side to better talk to him. “Where were you? Was Marvin with you?”

Whizzer nodded. “Marvin and I went driving. A road trip, kind of.”

Cordelia sighed. “Charlotte and I were so worried… I’m glad you had fun, Whizzer, I really am, but please _tell_ us the next time you decide to go missing for a full week.”

He grabbed her hand. “Sorry for freaking you out, Delia. I’ll tell you next time.”

She smiled, and patted his hand. “It’s okay. Hey, are you and Marv a thing yet?”

“Yeah.”

Whizzer jumped again, turning around. Marvin was standing there, at Whizzer’s open window. He grinned, quickly getting out of the car and hugging him. Marvin laughed, but was quick to wrap his arms around Whizzer. 

“How was last night?” Marvin asked, quietly enough that no one else would hear. 

Whizzer kind of wanted to laugh. That was a loaded question. 

Instead, he just kissed Marvin’s cheek and stepped back away. “I missed you.”

Marvin definitely noticed that Whizzer ignored his question, but he didn’t say anything about it. “Yeah. Missed you too.”

Cordelia cooed at them playfully. “Aww, how cute! Never pinned you as the sappy type, Marvin.”

 

***

 

Marvin rolled his eyes at Cordelia’s comment, but Whizzer was snickering. Marvin never pinned himself as the sappy type, either. Whizzer did weird things to him.

_“Marvin!”_

All of their attention turned to Charlotte, who was just now getting out of her car and approaching the group. She immediately went into lecturing Marvin, about how he shouldn’t just leave for a week without telling anyone, blah blah. He expected this, and he just kind of tuned it out. Instead, he looked over at Whizzer, who was still stood at Marvin’s side, and interlaced their fingers together.

Whizzer grinned at him, looking down at their hands and giving a small squeeze. Marvin returned the squeeze.

“Okay, yeah, I’m glad that you two aren’t miserably pining over each other anymore, but _seriously._ Don’t do that again,” Charlotte grumbled.

“Yeah, yeah,” Marvin agreed. “We won’t.”

“Well,” Whizzer threw in, “we _might._ We’ll just make sure to tell you first, next time.”

Marvin laughed. Charlotte didn’t look nearly as amused, but she didn’t say anything. 

“Anyway,” Whizzer suddenly said. “I need to go explain to my baseball team that I am _not_ dead, and also tell them why I missed three entire practices.”

“I’ll come with you,” Marvin said. 

“Don’t have sex in the locker room,” Charlotte offered, helpfully. 

“Oh, I know. We’d get caught. I’ve seen it happen before.” 

Marvin was both surprised and not surprised. Some people in their school were insane. 

 

***

 

Whizzer wasn’t actually planning on talking to the baseball team. Well, not yet, at least. He’d talk to them eventually, at their next practice. Whizzer really just wanted to get away to talk with Marvin. And he knew that Marvin would have offered to come with him, whether he knew that Whizzer wasn’t actually going out to the baseball diamond or not.

He knew that Marvin was going to ask him about being at home again. And he _really_ did not want Cordelia or Charlotte to hear. Because then they would get curious, and Whizzer did not want to explain everything to them like he did to Marvin.

Not that he didn’t trust them - he did, he especially trusted Cordelia - he just didn’t want any more people to know. He was already walking on thin wire with only Marvin knowing. If his dad found out… Oh, god. 

Marvin only seemed to catch on once they passed the baseball diamond, a few people practicing on their own there before school started.

“Are you talking to a specific person?” Marvin questioned, turning to glance at the people out on the field before looking back at Whizzer.

“Yeah,” he answered. _“You.”_

“Is it about being at home?” Marvin asked. “Did something happen?”

Whizzer hesitated, subconsciously rubbing his arm where a bruise was. “It… wasn’t anything that I hadn’t expected.”

 

Well, okay, that was a bit of a fib. He hadn’t expected _himself_ to argue back with his father for that brief point of time. It was weird - sometimes, he would get brief bursts of confidence and bravery like that when his father was yelling and threatening him. It usually ended up not being a good thing, though, because even though that first look of shock on his father’s face was always satisfactory, Whizzer’s remarks always got him in worse trouble than he was already in.

And he should know that by now. He should know by now that the best thing to do was to shut his mouth, nod his head, and apologize when his father would deem it necessary, then maybe things wouldn’t have gotten as bad as they were. Maybe he could have gotten away with only a slap and some verbal abuse. 

“What does that mean?” Marvin asked. He grabbed Whizzer’s hand, slowing him down.

Whizzer shrugged. “It wasn’t a Welcome-Back-Home, We-Missed-You party, that’s for sure,” he tried to joke.

But Marvin wasn’t laughing. Whizzer wasn’t either.

 

***

 

“What happened?” Marvin tried again. He wasn’t going to be surprised if he didn’t get much else out of Whizzer, but he was going to try. 

Whizzer looked scared. Like talking about it was going to make his abusers just appear and start yelling at him. Marvin reached out, taking Whizzer’s other hand, too. “You can talk to me, you know that. I’m not going to do anything bad.”

He watched Whizzer take a deep breath. “They were already fighting when I got there. He was drunk, because- because _of course_ he was. It’s hard to think of times, nowadays, when he’s not drinking.” He sighed. “I tried to sneak past, to get to my room, but he saw me.”

“Did he hurt you?”

It was silent. Marvin knew the answer was yes. 

Whizzer changed the topic suddenly. “It was hard to get to sleep. You weren’t there. It wasn’t as warm.”

Marvin decided to roll with it, kind of. “Is that the only reason?”

“I was scared,” he admitted, shrugging and looking away. “They were gone, but-”

“What do you mean?” Marvin furrowed his eyebrows. “They were gone? Did they leave the house?”

“No, uh… I blacked out, I think. In the kitchen. I woke up and I was still there, on the floor, but they weren’t in the room anymore. So I just went to bed.”

God. Marvin has never heard anything that hurt him more. It felt like his heart was actually ripping in half. He couldn’t let Whizzer stay there, in a house like that. Where he was being _knocked out_ by his own _father,_ and left alone, unattended, in the kitchen. Where he was _afraid_ to go to _sleep,_ in his own _home,_ because he didn’t want his parents to hit him or yell at him again.

Marvin sighed, and Whizzer quickly started speaking again.

“It’s fine, I’m fine, I was just- Scared. To sleep. It was dark and cold and I was alone. That’s all.”

That _wasn’t_ all, but Marvin wasn’t going to push it for the time being.

“Alright,” he mumbled. He wondered if Whizzer could tell that he still wasn’t letting it go. “Let’s just get to class. We don’t want to be late on out first day back after being gone for a full week.”

He was going to have to figure out a way to convince Whizzer to stay with him tonight. He couldn’t just let him go back to that.


	19. homework.

Marvin had managed to convince Whizzer to come over to work on homework together. They only had one class period together, but they had most of the same classes and teachers. Whizzer had some sport practice after school, so Marvin was left waiting at home for Whizzer to come over. 

His parents were excited. They seemed even _more_ interesting in seeing Whizzer now that they knew that Marvin and him were a couple. Marvin didn’t regret telling them, though. Not one bit. 

He was a little embarrassed when his mom opened the door, when Whizzer did come over. 

“Whizzer Brown!” She greeted, cheerful as ever. Marvin didn’t think anything of it until she was hugging him. 

Whizzer looked a bit uncomfortable at first, and Marvin started to say something, but Whizzer ended up giggling and hugging her back. “Mrs. Blumenfeld! How are you?”

“Oh, Whizzer, I am _wonderful._ How are you?” She questioned, pulling away and motioning him inside. 

Marvin watched as they just talked like they had been friends for years. 

Whizzer grinned, “I’m alright! My legs are kind of sore - track really kicks butt when you haven’t ran in a week.”

“I can imagine,” she nodded her head. “I did track in school. It was hard enough even when I ran everyday.”

“Yeah, it’s not great,” Whizzer shrugged. “But it keeps you active! So it’s good.”

“Marvin said that you do lots of sports.”

“Mm, no, not _lots._ Cheer, baseball, and track.” 

Jason perked up then. “You play baseball? Could you teach me sometime?”

Whizzer looked more than happy to. “Absolutely! It’s loads of fun, once you learn to play right.”

Marvin felt stupid just standing there and watching. His mother must have noticed, because she patted Whizzer’s shoulder with a smile. “Alright, Jason and I will get out of your way so you can work on the homework. I’m sure you need time for that.”

“Yeah,” Marvin finally said. Whizzer smiled at him. 

\- - -

They sat at the kitchen table, papers and binders and textbooks strewn everywhere. Marvin was stressed out. Whizzer didn’t seem bothered. He was chewing on the eraser of his mechanical pencil, reading something from his textbook and glancing back at his neat notes. 

Marvin glanced back at his own notes. He couldn’t read them. He had just scribbled stuff down because the teacher had glanced at him, and he didn’t want to get in trouble for spacing out. 

He sighed, dropping his pencil and running his face over his hands. He only looked up when he heard Whizzer’s snicker. 

“Having trouble?” Whizzer asked. 

“It’s hard to catch up when you’re a shitty student anyway,” Marvin grumbled. 

Whizzer reached across the table and grabbed Marvin’s notes. He stared at them for a moment. “Is this even English?”

“French,” Marvin lied. 

Whizzer rolled his eyes. _“Pas du tout.”_

Marvin stared. “I’m sorry, what?”

“French.” Whizzer was grinning. “Your paper is _not_ in French.” 

“You speak French?”

“I do.”

What the hell. Was Whizzer good at _everything?_

Whizzer didn’t think much about how cool it was that he could speak a foreign language. “What class is this for?” He asked, waving the paper of pen scribbles. 

Marvin was still thinking about Whizzer’s French. “Uh- Maybe physics? Maybe government?”

That made Whizzer laugh. He slid the paper back to Marvin. “Good luck, _chéri.”_

God. Whizzer’s French was even prettier than his English, and that was saying something. Marvin struggled to turn his attention back to his homework. 

 

***

 

Their homework didn’t get finished. It was getting late.

“Will you just stay the night?” Marvin asked. 

God, Whizzer wanted to. He really did. He considered it for a moment before deciding, fuck it. “Yeah,” he answered, not looking up from his paper. He was almost finished with his third math worksheet. “Your parents won’t mind?”

Marvin chuckled. “Of course they won’t. You saw my mom when you first got here - she _loves_ you.”

“She’s nice.” Whizzer smiled. “I like her.”

It was… odd. To talk to someone that he knew was a mom, and to not have to worry about being afraid. Of course, it was the same way with Cordelia’s moms - but he never really saw them that often. He hasn’t seen them in awhile. They were always nice, though. 

It was even _weirder_ talking to Marvin’s _dad._ The guy was so kind, so cheerful, so energetic - and he used his energy to do good things. He had come in earlier, and sat at the table with them for awhile. He helped Marvin decipher those horrible notes - they hadn’t been for physics _or_ government - and he talked to Whizzer about being on the baseball team. He was funny. He made a lot of dad jokes, that Whizzer appreciated but that made Marvin roll his eyes and groan. 

Marvin was just staring at him from across the table. 

“What?” Whizzer questioned, slowly putting his pencil down. “Did I do that one wrong? I probably did. I hate math.”

He watched as Marvin took the paper, looking over the work. Out of the two of them, Marvin was definitely the math whiz. Whizzer was more into reading and language arts and some science. 

“All of these are wrong,” Marvin commented. 

Whizzer groaned. “At least she only grades on completion. And she likes me.” 

“Who doesn’t?”

Whizzer could think of a few. But he didn’t say that. 

They worked for a few more hours, before finally deciding to put their stuff away and go to sleep. Whizzer had planned on going home to get stuff - clothes, pajamas - but Marvin insisted that he just wear his clothes instead. 

Whizzer was fine with that. He’d have to wake up earlier in the morning to actually be able to find a way to make a nice outfit out of Marvin’s clothing for school, but he didn’t worry about it for bedtime. 

They said goodnight to Marvin’s parents, and he got another hug from Mrs. Blumenfeld. He liked her a lot. He really did. After that, they ended up in Marvin’s bedroom. 

Once he was cuddled up in Marvin’s arms, exhaustion hit Whizzer like a train. He worked himself too hard - what, after everything from his dad the night previous, then not sleeping, then working extra hard in track to make up for being gone for a week. He yawned, burying his face into the crook of Marvin’s neck. 

“Goodnight,” he murmured, sleepily. 

“Goodnight, love,” Marvin responded, placing a kiss to the top of Whizzer’s head.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yes. i did give cordelia two moms. fight me.


	20. parents.

Waking up with Whizzer in his arms was possibly one of the best things Marvin could feel. Whizzer was awake, but barely. 

“Good morning,” Marvin greeted him. 

Whizzer hummed something in reply, snuggling himself closer to Marvin. 

As much as Marvin just wanted to lay here with him until he was ready to wake up, Marvin knew that they had to get up. School. 

“C’mon, love. Gotta get up.”

Whizzer grumbled, but he forced himself up. 

They got dressed, Marvin just grabbing some of the first things he saw and Whizzer practically tearing Marvin’s closet apart before deciding on something, and then they went downstairs. 

And both of them froze. 

Marvin’s mom was talking to Whizzer’s parents. Both of them. 

Whizzer tensed up at Marvin’s side, all of the color draining from his face. 

“Oh, Whizzer,” Mrs. Brown said suddenly. Marvin felt Whizzer flinch. 

“Mom..” Whizzer managed. 

“We were just coming to make sure that you got here alright,” Mr. Brown said. “And we’ve never met Marvin’s parents. We figured it would be a good chance to do that, too.”

Marvin felt kind of chilled just from hearing the man speak. He glanced over at Whizzer. 

Whizzer looked like he was about to have a panic attack. 

“Uh- Hey, we’re going to go get breakfast, real quick,” Marvin announced, taking Whizzer’s hand and pulling him with him into the kitchen. 

“What the fuck,” Whizzer whispered, mostly to himself, once they were alone again. “What the _fuck?_ How did they figure out where your house was? How did they know I was _staying?_ How did they- I- Why are-“

“Hey, Whizzer, breathe,” Marvin said, trying to calm him down. 

Obviously Whizzer was going to be freaked out. Marvin didn’t blame him. He just didn’t want Whizzer to end up having a panic attack, or hyperventilating or something. That would make things worse. 

“Can we leave?” Whizzer asked him. “We can just- go. Right now. We- We have _school._ That’s our excuse. School, and we have to go, we’ll be late, clubs in the morning…”

Then Marvin’s dad came into the kitchen. He took one glance at Whizzer, and was immediately concerned. “Is everything okay?”

Marvin didn’t know what to say. He wanted to just explain the whole thing to his dad, to get Whizzer help. But Whizzer didn’t want that. Marvin opened his mouth to say something, but Whizzer spoke first. 

“We have to… go to school.” 

“It’s still early, you have time,” his dad said. He came all the way into the room and helped Whizzer down into one of the kitchen chairs. “Alright, Whizzer, are you listening to me?”

Whizzer nodded hesitantly. 

“Good. Good. Breathe with me, alright?”

Marvin just stood back and watched. Whizzer struggled at first, but eventually his breathing patterns were regulated again. 

“Now,” Mr. Blumenfeld said, still sitting across from Whizzer. “What happened?”

Whizzer quickly shook his head. “No- No, I _can’t._ Sorry, I-“

“His parents,” Marvin blurted out. 

Whizzer looked panicked. _“Marvin.”_

Mr. Blumenfeld seemed to immediately understand. “They hurt you, don’t they?”

“No!” Whizzer lied. “No, they don’t, I’m fine-“

Marvin’s dad took Whizzer’s hand and rolled up the long sleeve of the sweater he was wearing. There were bruises all up and down his arm. 

They got dressed in the dark, and with their backs to each other. That’s why Marvin didn’t see them. 

Whizzer quickly pulled his arm back. “No- I- What- No,” he stammered, trying to come up with something. “I play baseball! I play sports! I fall, and-“

“Okay.” It was obvious that he didn’t believe Whizzer, but he wasn’t going to push it. “If you need to go to school, then you can.”

Whizzer quickly stood up, grabbed his backpack, and left. 

Marvin sighed. Maybe he shouldn’t have said anything. Then his dad stood up and put a hand on his shoulder. 

“You did the right thing, Marv.” He said. 

“Yeah,” Marvin nodded. It didn’t feel like he did. “What are you going to do?”

“Talk to police. CPS. We’ll take him in, if they’ll let us.”

That made Marvin feel better. At least Whizzer would be with them, rather than stuck somewhere with people he didn’t know, or something.

“I need to go,” Marvin told his dad. “I should make sure he’s okay.”

\- - - 

When Marvin got to school, he immediately looked for Whizzer. He found him out at the track, with Cordelia. They were sitting on the bleachers - okay, well, Cordelia was sitting. Whizzer was pacing back and forth, running his hands through his hair. Marvin paused, waiting. He didn’t want to interrupt.

 

***

 

He accidentally told her everything. He was just… _freaked out,_ and he needed to talk to _someone_ and Marvin wasn’t _there._

Cordelia was shocked into silence. She was just staring at him as he paced, as he _lost_ his _mind._

“Okay, okay, woah,” she finally said, jumping down from the bleachers and stopping him where he was. “Whizzer, breathe. Sit down.”

She sat him down on the bleachers, then sat down next to him.

“He’s going to kill me, Delia. I know he will,” Whizzer found himself saying, shaking his head. He dropped his head in his hands. “I’m dead. I’m _so_ dead.”

“No,” She wrapped her arms around him, pulling him in. “Stay with me. Or stay with Marvin. I’m sure Marvin’s parents are going to do something about it - and I’ll tell mine, too-”

“No! No, Delia, listen to me. You cannot tell anyone. I’m already going to be in enough trouble-”

“Whiz,” She murmured. “You won’t be in trouble. They’re going to help you. Just stay away from home, it’ll be okay.”

Whizzer shook his head. “I can’t- They’ll call the police on me to find me, or- or, ha, or better yet, they’ll find me themselves and then I’m _dead.”_

Cordelia looked so worried. So _scared._ He shouldn’t have told her. He never should have told her.


	21. police.

Marvin didn’t see Whizzer for the rest of the day. When he left school, Whizzer’s car was already gone. He tried talking around - to Cordelia, to Charlotte, to Trina, to random people that he knew he’s seen Whizzer talk to before. The only thing he could gather was that Whizzer was quiet and unresponsive in the first half of the day, and that he had disappeared during lunch. Marvin was _worried._

He got home as quick as he could and talked to his parents. His had had noticed his mom about the issue after Marvin had left too, and they called protective services. People were already investigating the home and Mr. and Mrs. Brown. Marvin assumed that Whizzer was sent home to be investigated as well. 

Marvin tried texting Whizzer all day. Asking where he was, what happened, if he was okay. He apologized for telling his father, even if it really _was_ the right thing to do. 

It wasn’t until nearly three in the morning that Marvin heard from Whizzer again. Whizzer had called him. 

Marvin hadn’t been asleep. He couldn’t sleep even if he tried. 

“Whizzer?” Marvin questioned. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah,” came the reply. It was quieter than usual, almost as if he was hiding from someone or something. “Well, I am right now.”

“Where are you? What’s going on?”

“I’m in the back of a police car. They’re talking to my parents... they didn’t want me inside. It’s nicer in here than they make it look in the movies.”

Marvin knew that Whizzer was scared. Terrified, probably. He would have been, too. “Have they talked to you?”

“Not all of them. Just this one girl. She was nice.”

“You aren’t lying to the police, are you?”

“No.” Whizzer sighed. “I want to, though. I want to just tell them that everything’s fine so they’ll leave us alone. But if I did that, my dad would kill me- Hold on, the girl’s back.”

Marvin was quiet. He heard the background noise of people talking - probably just Whizzer and the policewoman, but he couldn’t really make it out. Then Whizzer was back. 

“They’re giving me the choice of who gets custody over me. I guess they’ve already decided that I can’t stay here anymore.” Whizzer stated. 

“Will you stay with us?” Marvin asked quickly. 

It was quiet. 

Then, Whizzer responded. “I don’t know… What if your parents-“

“They want you here, Whizzer. My dad even said that he’d want to take you in, if the police will allow it.”

Whizzer sighed. “I don’t know. I’m staying with that girl tonight, because none of the rest of my family will take me in. They said they can’t, but they just won’t. I don’t care, I don’t want to stay with them anyway.” He was quiet for a moment. “I won’t be at school tomorrow, so don’t get freaked out when you don’t see me. Tell Cordelia, too.”

Marvin hated this. “Okay…”

“I have to go, Marvin. Make sure you get some sleep, okay? I love you.”

“I love you too.”

Marvin couldn’t get to sleep. 

 

***

 

Her name was Stella, and she was awesome. Whizzer sincerely did not think that he was going to be making a new friend out of this, but he did. 

It was five in the morning, and he couldn’t sleep. Stella let him watch her fill out paperwork for another case that she was working on. And she answered all of his questions, even though she told him that she shouldn’t be answering some of them. 

“Have you ever had to take care of a murder?” Whizzer asked her, watching her jot a few things down. 

“Sort of,” Stella answered. She looked up at him, putting her pen down. “But I’m more of a policewoman than a detective, so it’s just kind of like going to the crime scene and reporting what I’d seen.”

“What’s the most gory thing you’ve seen?”

She had to think about that. “There was one guy that kidnapped people and mutilated them in his basement. There were at least ten bodies.”

“Gross.”

“Yeah,” she laughed. 

Stella made this whole experience bearable. She was kind, and she had a good sense of humor. She made a bunch of stupid jokes to light up the situation, like Whizzer himself did often, but she was also serious when she needed to be. Whizzer liked her a lot. 

“Do you get any, like… _Happy_ jobs?”

“I guess it depends on what you consider happy. I think jobs like this, your case, are happy. Because kids like you will always get a happy ending.”

That hit Whizzer hard. He would get a happy ending. Kids like him. He didn’t really know what any of that meant, but… it felt good. 

Whizzer went to sleep at six. It was a bit of a struggle falling asleep without Marvin there, but at least he didn’t have to worry about wondering if and when his parents would wake up and start yelling at him. He wouldn’t have to worry about that ever again.


	22. baseball, part one.

Marvin hadn’t heard from Whizzer in several days. He hadn’t seen him at school. Nobody else had, either. His parents said that it was probably legal stuff, taking care of the whole situation, and that he’d see Whizzer again soon, but Marvin was still worried as hell. 

He’s been spending more time with Cordelia and Charlotte. It was awkward, because he was the third wheel. Both of them were worried about Whizzer, too, but they were just as confident as his parents that Whizzer would be back soon. 

He wondered if all of them knew more than he did. 

He was sitting in the kitchen, doing homework. He was supposed to have read some stupid poem for English, and the assignment was to answer these questions about it. But, of course, he hadn’t read the poem. And he wasn’t planning on it, either. 

Whizzer would have loved an assignment like this. Whizzer loved English class. He loved reading, he loved writing. 

Marvin only really liked math and science. History was okay - it was boring sometimes, but at least he was good at it. He was good at remembering dates and names. His history teacher loved him because he was the only one in the class who could remember the dates of historic events without looking back in his notes. 

If Whizzer was here, working on homework with him, they would have traded assignments. Whizzer would have _eagerly_ slid his math homework across the table and start reading that poem. 

Thinking of Whizzer all the time was kind of making him sad. He thought about the good times a lot, but it just made him miss his lover even more. 

Marvin had gone out to drive a few days ago. He’d put together a playlist of some of the songs he remembered Whizzer playing for him, and he drove long enough that he memorized the words to a lot of them. He stopped and watched the sunset from the top of a hill. He cried that night, on the hill. He wasn’t sure whether it was because of how beautiful the sun was, or how much it reminded him of Whizzer. How much he missed him. How much he wished that Whizzer could just be there right then, at his side. 

“Marvin?”

Marvin looked up from his homework. It was Jason. 

“What?”

Jason sat down at the table, across from him. Where Whizzer would have sat. “You’re sad.”

He didn’t say anything. He couldn’t think of anything _to_ say. 

“Mom’s afraid that you’re going through a depression… She didn’t want to say that to you, though, because she didn’t want you to get mad.”

Was he? Was he depressed? Maybe he was. 

“I just miss Whizzer,” Marvin answered, looking back down at the stupid poem. 

“Whizzer wouldn’t want you to mope around like this.” Jason stated, standing up again. “If you aren’t going to read that poem - and I know you aren’t, you’ve been glaring at it for ten minutes - come outside with me.”

“Come outside and do _what?”_

“Play baseball! I’m not any good, but I know that _you_ aren’t, either. Whizzer said he’d teach me how to play, and I know he will when he gets back, but we should try to learn the basics. He’ll be proud.”

So Marvin ended up outside with his brother, throwing balls that Jason kept missing. Was he even holding the bat correctly? Marvin didn’t know. 

This became a thing. Every day, usually directly after school, Marvin and Jason would go outside and throw balls and try to hit them. Jason was gradually getting better, every once in awhile he’d nudge the ball with his bat, but Marvin couldn’t even do that. He always swung too early, or too late. 

“Whizzer will show us the proper techniques,” Jason always said. “He’ll show us the right way to do it.”

It still didn’t seem like Whizzer was ever going to get back, but Marvin managed to keep so busy during the day - school, baseball with Jason, hanging out with Cordelia and Charlotte, family weekend plans - that he just didn’t have time to sulk. And each day, he was _exhausted_ when he’d finally get to bed, so he wouldn’t stay up thinking about Whizzer, either. 

He dreamed about Whizzer, though. It was always happy things. He always saw Whizzer smiling. He saw Whizzer standing up with his head out the sunroof, cheering and smiling like a child. He saw Whizzer pointing out the constellations, with that cute little smile on his face. He saw Whizzer singing along to the blaring music, with his hand out the window. He saw Whizzer staring at the sunset. He saw Whizzer sitting across from him at his kitchen table, staring down at a math problem with such _confusion_ but refusing to ask for help. 

Marvin had started going to the school’s baseball games. He took Jason along, too. Cordelia and Charlotte were usually there, and Mendel was always there because Trina cheered at the baseball games. 

Mendel was odd, but Marvin ended up having some sort of weird friendship-acquaintance thing going on with him. Mendel really liked Jason, and Marvin often had to listen to him excitedly ramble on and on about how he wanted to marry Trina and had children one day. Jason never paid attention to anything other than the baseball players, clearly trying to pick up some of their techniques. It never worked. 

Cordelia and Charlotte often argued with each other against what the referees called. Cordelia was usually in favor of the referee, but Charlotte never was. Marvin wondered if the ref really _was_ wrong, or if Charlotte had just been spending too much time in debate club. Everyone was always riled up when they left debate club on Fridays, Marvin himself included. 

That little ‘depressive’ episode that Marvin had seemed to be completely over. He was happy again - not as happy as he would be with Whizzer around - and he had finally managed to believe that he really would be back. 

Whizzer would be back, whether it was in a day or a week or a month. He would be back, and he would be safe. 

For now, Marvin had himself surrounded in friends, new and old, and family. And he was happy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> awww yeah look @ me go, three chapters in one day :^)


	23. address.

Marvin woke up on a Saturday morning to a text. 

**from: Whiz <3 **  
_i’m finally free. come over._   
_and bring me one of your sweaters!_  
 _this one doesn’t smell like you anymore :(_

And then there was an address - one that Marvin didn’t recognize. Who cared? He was going. And he definitely did grab a sweater, like Whizzer had asked. 

“I’m going out,” he said quickly, to his parents. “Whizzer.”

And that was all it took for them to understand. Both of them told him to have fun. 

The address wasn’t too far away from the school. Maybe fifteen or twenty minutes. It wasn’t too hard to find, either. It was a lone house, with a large backyard and a pretty good sized front yard. He saw Whizzer’s car in the driveway when he pulls in. 

Marvin didn’t even get the chance to get up to the patio before Whizzer came flying out the door, pulling Marvin into a large hug. 

They must have stood there like that for at least five minutes. Once they finally pulled away, Marvin saw how _tired_ Whizzer looked. 

“Christ, I missed you,” Whizzer murmured. 

“I missed you too. So much.” Marvin pulled Whizzer down for a kiss. 

Eventually, they found their way inside. Whizzer was quick to toss his t-shirt aside in favor of the sweater that Marvin brought him. They cuddled up on the couch, Whizzer laying with his head in Marvin’s lap, Marvin’s hand trailing through Whizzer’s hair. The TV was on, but neither one of them were paying any attention to it at all. 

“What have you been up to?” Marvin questioned him. 

Whizzer sighed, closing his eyes. “Lots of stuff. Stella - she’s the police officer that I’ve been staying with - says she thinks that they’ll get officially arrested pretty soon. They lost custody almost immediately, but for some reason everything else is taking a lot more time. I guess they’re trying to figure out how long to keep them in jail, or something. I’m tired of answering the same questions over and over again.” He yawned, then continued. “Yes, they hit me. No, it was never sexual - almost, once, but almost doesn’t count. Yes, both of them drink, but it’s usually my dad. Yes, my mom has hit me before, too. No, we don’t talk to any other family members. Yes, I’m pretty sure they’ve tried to kill me once. No, I was never stabbed with anything by them. Stuff like that. All the time.”

Marvin leaned down and pressed a kiss to Whizzer’s forehead. “It’s worth it though, right? You’re safe. They’ll never be able to do any of that again.”

“Yeah. But I miss you. And if they keep me busy with going to courts and talking to judges and talking to other police officers and talking to CPS agents and stuff, I don’t get to see you. I don’t even have time to text.”

“It’ll all be over soon enough. Soon enough, it’ll go back to normal. But a better normal.”

Marvin was repeating the things his mom and dad told him whenever he mentioned Whizzer to them. The stuff that he didn’t believe at first, but that he eventually came around to believe. To know, in his heart. 

Whizzer smiled at that. “Yeah. A better normal. With you in it. And with my parents out of it.”

Marvin smiled, too. Whizzer’s smile was contagious. “Exactly. I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

And then Whizzer asked what Marvin had been up to. It wasn’t nearly as interesting as Whizzer’s current lifestyle, he had said, before answering him. 

“Jason and I have been playing baseball. If you can even call it that,” Marvin chuckled. “And we go to the school’s baseball games, to watch them play. I don’t understand it, it’s boring to me, but Jason likes it. And Cordelia and Charlotte are there, so I talk to them. And Mendel is there - I guess I’m kind of friends with him. He’s weird.”

Whizzer laughed. “He is weird. But Trina loves him, so I get to see him a lot. Or - I did. Not right now. I haven’t seen him in awhile. I haven’t seen _anyone_ from school in awhile.”

They talked for hours and hours. Marvin learned that Stella was out currently because she was apparently dealing with a robbery of some sort. He was told all of the things that Stella had told Whizzer, and was promptly reminded not to tell her that he had told him these things. And Marvin told him about some of the things that he was missing in school, about that one English lesson that he knew Whizzer would have _loved._

Stella got back later in the evening. She had introduced herself to Marvin and, with lots of begging from Whizzer, ended up telling the both of them about the robbery that she had just come back from. All of the details. Marvin didn’t think he’d actually be told things like this. Especially hearing it come from the cop, herself. 

But Stella was awesome, just like Whizzer had told Marvin she was. She made them dinner and ate with them, and somehow Whizzer had gotten her into talking about a murder case that she had done a few years back. It was interesting. And Marvin wasn’t even surprised that Whizzer easily managed to get all of this stuff out of her - he was just good at talking to people, good at persuading them. 

Stella let Marvin stay the night. He felt so lucky to be going to sleep with Whizzer in his arms again. 

“Marv?” Whizzer murmured sleepily, as they lay cuddling in Whizzer’s bed. 

“Hm?” 

“Thank you for telling your dad. About my parents.”

Marvin was surprised. 

Whizzer continued, “I didn't want anyone to know, but… I’m so glad they do now. You saved my life, Marvin.”

Marvin brushed some of Whizzer’s hair out of his face, before placing a kiss to the top of his head. “It was the least I could do after all of the things you’ve done to me. Now sleep. You clearly haven’t been getting as much sleep as you should be.”

Whizzer smiled, leaning in and kissing Marvin on the lips before snuggling his way back into the crook of his neck. “I love you so much.”

Marvin fell asleep with a smile on his face that night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yeah that’s right here’s a fourth chapter in one night


	24. questions.

Whizzer sat in the chair next to Stella, secretly spacing out. Or maybe not secretly, he didn’t know. Neither Stella nor the two other police officers on the opposite side of the table said anything. Stella was talking to them, about Whizzer and his family and home life and so on. Whizzer was just there to confirm or deny anything, and to answer any new questions. 

Well, that’s what they always said, but Whizzer was stuck answering the same questions over and over. 

It had been a few days since he’d finally gotten to see Marvin again. He missed him, so much. He’d give anything to be able to snuggle up with him again. He wore that sweater at night, when he went to bed. Well, it was more like four or five in the morning when he actually went to bed, but same thing. 

Whizzer yawned. He was tired. He’s only gotten around five or six hours of sleep this week, and it was already Thursday. That wasn’t healthy, he knew, but he didn’t like sleeping alone anymore. He didn’t really know what it was - his parents were completely unable to get him, and he was in the same house as a police officer. He had nothing to worry about. And yet, he still hated it. 

He couldn’t wait for things to go back to normal. To the _better_ normal, like Marvin had said. To when he could spend as much time with Marvin as he wanted, whenever he wanted. To when he wouldn’t have to worry about ever sleeping alone again. To when he wouldn’t have to cling to Marvin’s clothes at night to feel safe. 

These years of abuse had really taken a toll on him. At least, that’s what Stella said, from observing him from a day to day basis. Especially without Marvin around. It had a PTSD-like effect on him. He’d jump at unexpected loud noises, flinch when people moved too fast - Whizzer thought it was stupid. He hated it. But he couldn’t do anything about it. 

“Mr. Brown?”

He snapped out of his mind, sitting up in his chair. “Yeah? Sorry.”

“You said that there was never any sexual abuse, correct?”

God. He hated this question. The answer he was giving was a bit of a lie, but it was more for himself than anything. He just wasn’t… ready to admit that, yet. “Correct. Almost, once, but almost doesn’t count.”

“What do you mean by ‘almost,’ Mr. Brown?”

“Please, don’t call me that.” Being called Mr. Brown made him think of his father, and that was one of the last things he wanted. “And I mean that- Once, he… Almost touched me. Inappropriately. But I got away, and he never tried again.”

Except he _did_ try again, and Whizzer hadn’t gotten away that second time. But Whizzer didn’t want to think about that. He had almost managed to convince himself that that night was actually just a horrible nightmare. He was so close to believing it… If the police officers and judges and CPS agents would just stop _questioning_ him, maybe he could. 

“Are you sure?”

That question freaked Whizzer out. He felt himself go cold, as the policeman stared at him. He couldn’t find his voice for a moment, but when he did, it was quiet. “What?”

“Okay,” Stella said. “That’s enough. Move on with the questions, please.” 

And so they did. This topic was dropped. The policemen went back to talking to Stella, giving Whizzer more time to think to himself. 

Oh, god, not now. Now he wished they would start questioning him again, because his thoughts were _plagued_ about that night. Forget it, repress it, it didn’t happen. It wasn’t real. Push it away. Think about other things. 

He couldn’t. He couldn’t convince himself anymore. It was real, and he knew it was, and holding that back for such a long time was definitely not helping him at all. 

Whizzer couldn’t breathe. He couldn’t catch his breath. He heard Stella and the other two guys talking to him, but he couldn’t make out what they said. His vision was blurry. 

Through his messed up vision, he could tell that Stella looked concerned. She was saying _something,_ but it just sounded like white noise. 

“I don’t-“ He mumbled, but found himself unable to say anything else. 

What was happening? Was he dying? 

He still couldn’t breathe. 

\- - -

Whizzer woke up in his bedroom at Stella’s house. It was really the guest bedroom, but he had made it to look more like his own with posters and decorations and such. 

What happened? He felt sick. 

He slowly sat up, and almost ended back down in bed again. He was _dizzy._ When he glanced at the clock, it told him that it was six in the morning. How long had he been asleep for? 

Whizzer forced himself out of bed and down the hallway, until he made it to Stella’s ‘office’ room. 

She looked up from the large stack of paperwork she had at her desk. “Hey,” she smiled. She motioned to the chair in front of her desk. 

He sat down. He felt better once he was tiring again, rather than standing and trying to keep balance. Slowly, though, the dizziness was starting to fade. “What happened?”

“You had a panic attack,” Stella said. “And passed out.”

Whizzer fell silent. What was wrong with him? 

Stella spoke again. “I need you to tell me the truth, Whizzer.”

He hesitated for a moment, before nodding. “Okay…”

“Did they ever sexually abuse you? Even just one time?”

Whizzer felt like he might pass out again. “Stella-“

“Just yes or no. You don’t have to tell me anything else.”

“Yes,” he finally admitted. He felt sick. He felt lightheaded. “I don’t feel well. I’m going back to bed.”

Stella only watched him. 

\- - -

He woke up again around noon. Stella wasn’t in the office anymore - Whizzer found her in the kitchen. 

“Hey, Whizzer?” She said, watching him come in. “What do you do to relax?”

Whizzer thought about that. “Uh… Roadtrip. With Marvin.”

That was all he could think about. That was all he _wanted_ to do. 

Stella nodded. “You need time off. Call Marvin, see if he’s free.”

 

***

Marvin was most definitely free.


	25. stress.

They planned to leave Friday, right after Marvin got out of school. They’d be gone on Saturday and Sunday, and they’d get back in the very early morning on Monday. It wasn’t as long as either of them wanted, but it was certainly better than nothing. Marvin wasn’t allowed to miss any more school, or he and his parents would get in trouble. 

Whizzer on the other hand, couldn’t remember how long it’s been since he’s actually been to school. Stella would go every week to get his work and notes from his teachers, and he would try to work on it during free time. It usually served as something he did to keep himself up at night, so he wouldn’t have to sleep. He hated sleeping alone now. Something just clicked, and he couldn’t do it. He had too many nightmares, it was too cold no matter what he did. 

Stella told him that it would get better - that the nightmares would go away, that he’d be able to sleep just like any other person. He wanted to believe her, he really did, but it just didn’t seem like that was going to happen any time soon. 

It was Friday, but it was only noon. Time seemed to be ticking by so _slowly._ Whizzer was trying to busy himself with schoolwork, but the math was all he had left to do. This shit was stressing him out almost to the point where he was ready to just breakdown. He could _cry_ over this homework. Stella was in her office, talking to someone about something else, so he couldn’t ask for help. 

He wouldn’t have asked for help anyway. He hated asking for help. 

He laid his head down on the dining room table. He was tired. He’s never felt this tired in his life. 

The next thing he knew, there was a knock on the door. Whizzer sat up and glanced at the clock - it was three o’clock. Had he fallen asleep? He didn’t _remember_ falling asleep.

He jumped up and opened the door, smiling when he saw Marvin - he knew that it would be Marvin, but he was still so excited to see him again. 

“You look _exhausted,”_ Marvin murmured. He looked concerned. “Have you slept?”

“Yeah,” Whizzer answered, pulling Marvin inside. “Not as well as I should be, but I have been sleeping.”

Marvin didn’t look too convinced. “You’re going to sleep in the car.”

Whizzer pouted, but he didn’t complain.

They notified Stella that they were leaving, before getting in the car. It didn’t take Whizzer long to fall asleep - and he was even _trying_ to stay awake.

 

***

 

Stella had warned Marvin that Whizzer hadn’t been sleeping well, but Marvin hadn’t expected it to be that bad. Whizzer looked so tired. Was he even sleeping at all? He glanced over - Whizzer was already asleep, and they’ve only been driving for ten minutes. It wasn’t that Marvin minded, obviously - he was glad that Whizzer was finally getting sleep. And he would still have the weekend to hang out with Whizzer, whenever he did wake up.

Marvin was worried about him, still. Even though he knew that Whizzer was safe with Stella and everything, there were still some issues that hadn’t been taken care of yet. Like, for example, his lack of sleeping. Was it just Whizzer doing his own thing, or was there something bigger behind it? Oh, and, was Whizzer eating right? He didn’t look like he had lost or gained any weight, so it _seemed_ that eating wasn’t an issue, but he couldn’t know for sure. Would Whizzer need therapy? Or medicine? If so, would he be getting it soon enough?

He sighed, running a hand through his hair. This was stressing him out. He could only imagine how _Whizzer_ felt. Whizzer was busy everyday. Marvin didn’t know exactly _what_ Whizzer was busy with everyday, but he did know that Whizzer had a lot on his plate, and he was sure to be stressed out. 

He was glad for this little weekend getaway type of thing. It would give them more time together, Whizzer would get time to be free and relax and have fun. It was good. It could feel like their first road trip, which had been so much fun. 

Marvin drove aimlessly for hours. His music was playing - the playlist that he’d made of music he remembered Whizzer listening to. He found himself singing along, without really paying attention. 

And then Whizzer’s voice joined him, and he nearly had a heart attack. 

“When did you wake up?”

Whizzer certainly looked better after the sleep. Obviously, Marvin knew, it wouldn’t cure _all_ of the problems at hand, but it did help his lack of sleep. 

He was grinning. “Awhile. Keep singing, this is a good duet song.”

Marvin snickered a bit at that, shaking his head. “Duets aren’t good when only one of the two people can actually sing.” 

Whizzer sat up straight in his seat, rolling his window down and letting the wind mess up his hair. Marvin loved seeing the wind blown state of his hair. “Right. And both of us can sing. We are physically capable of doing it,” he stated, pointing a finger at Marvin. “Nobody _said_ that we were _good_ singers. It’s not like we’re auditioning for American Idol or anything-“

“Thank god-“

“Although we _totally should.”_

“Whizzer, _no,”_ but Marvin was laughing. 

Whizzer was, too. 

God, Marvin missed this. He missed this _so_ much. He reached over and took Whizzer’s hand in his own, giving it a gentle squeeze. Whizzer squeezed back happily.


	26. talk.

They watched the sunset while sitting on the roof of Marvin’s car. Both of them were silent, fingers intertwined, until the world around them got dark. 

Whizzer was the first to speak. “Can we talk?”

Marvin was instantly worried. Something about Whizzer seemed… off. He’s been happy and energetic and upbeat all day. Now he was quiet, and somber. Something was _wrong._ “Of course,” he nodded. “What is it?”

He watched as Whizzer’s gaze dropped down to his lap. Whizzer seemed to be thinking, chewing on his bottom lip. This was kind of scaring Marvin. What was going on? What happened? What-

“I lied,” Whizzer finally said. Marvin waited for him to elaborate. Whizzer took a deep breath in, and closed his eyes. “I lied. To you, to Stella, to the police.”

“About what?” Marvin asked him, gently. 

Whizzer didn’t look like he wanted to continue. But, he did. “About… the sexual abuse. It happened. Twice.”

Marvin was speechless. 

Whizzer continued, almost emotionlessly. “Three times, if you count the time I got away before… anything really happened. It was after I came out. I knew I never should have told them, but… I did. He had just hit me a few nights before, because I was hiding things from them, so I thought that I shouldn’t hide anything else before I got into more trouble. So I told them.”

“It’s not your fault,” Marvin stated. 

“I know.” Whizzer nodded. “But it _is_ my fault that I never told anyone and pretended to be okay while it ate away at me. I just kind of… repressed it. I told myself it was all a nightmare, and I believed it. And I was truly happy again. But then… the people keep _asking_ me, and bringing it up over and over - and I keep _lying,_ because I think- I don’t know, that time could go back and revert itself and make it _really_ only be a nightmare.” 

Marvin gently rubbed his thumb over the top of Whizzer’s hand, watching him. Some of the stress seemed to have melted away from Whizzer. Maybe he just needed someone to talk to about it. So Marvin stayed quiet and just listened, letting Whizzer get all of the stress out. 

“I felt… so disgusting. Like it _was_ my fault. It was one of my lowest points. I wanted to die. Because, I thought, if I died, I wouldn’t have to deal with that anymore. And I had thought that I didn’t have anyone to live for, anyway.” Whizzer sighed, looking up at the sky. “I was in a bad relationship, too. I should have broke it off before it got to where it was, but I didn’t. I felt like I _deserved_ that. All of it.”

He scoffed at himself, shaking his head. “It was stupid. I was stupid. All of that… was wrong. What my dad did was horrible, disgusting, but it wasn’t my fault. There wasn’t anything I could have done differently. And I had plenty to live for. I had Cordelia, I had Charlotte - I had friends. I had my clubs, and I had my sports. I had things and people that made me happy. And I didn’t deserve the shit that guy that I was with did, either. He was a toolbag.”

It was quiet for awhile. Marvin was about to say something, but Whizzer had suddenly grinned and added on, “I kicked him in the balls a few months ago for payback.”

That made Marvin laugh - he couldn’t help it. But it was okay, because now Whizzer was laughing, too. 

It got quiet again after a little while, both of them just sitting there. 

“I’m sorry for, like, ranting or whatever.” Whizzer finally said. 

Marvin shook his head. “Don’t be. It’s good to talk about these things. You feel better now, don’t you?”

Whizzer nodded. “Yeah. Tons.”

He let go of Whizzer’s hand, moving his hands up to cup Whizzer’s cheeks and pulling him in for a kiss. They stayed there like that for a moment, neither of them wanting to pull away. And they didn’t, either, until neither of them could breathe. 

“You’re so brave, Whizzer,” Marvin breathed, placing a bunch of kisses over his cheeks. “You’re so brave, you’re so strong, I’m so glad to have you here.”

Whizzer laughed, putting a hand on Marvin’s chest. “Stop it, Marv.”

“You are. You’re amazing.” He leaned back just slightly, to get a better look at Whizzer. 

_“You’re_ amazing,” Whizzer mumbled, taking Marvin’s hand in his own. “Now stop, you’re going to make me cry.”

Marvin smiled at him. “You’re still just as strong and brave and amazing when you cry.”

 _“Marvin.”_ Whizzer’s eyes were starting to get watery, Marvin noticed, but he was wearing a big smile. 

He reached a hand out and wiped Whizzer’s eyes gently. “Love you.”

Whizzer hummed, leaning into Marvin’s touch. “Yeah. I love you too. Stop making me cry and let’s find somewhere to stay for tonight.”

They ended up at a hotel not too far from the area that they were at, wrapped up in each other’s arms. Warm and happy. The bed was less than comfortable, but neither of them seemed to care. Just being in the same bed as each other was enough for them, whether it was actually a good bed or not.


	27. wait.

The weekend went by way too fast. It felt like they were just getting to see each other again, and then they were heading back to Stella’s house. 

“What if we just don’t go back?” Whizzer said. 

Marvin glanced at him. “Ever?”

“Well, no. I meant just for another week. Or two.”

That made Marvin laugh. “My parents would get in trouble with the law because I’ve already had too many absences from school.”

Whizzer grinned at that. “Yeah, true. After that week of us being gone, they’re going to _know_ that you’re just skipping.” 

Yeah. Maybe skipping school for a solid week wasn’t their best idea, but that was in the past. And, it brought them to where they were now. Marvin didn’t really want to think about where they’d be if they never went on that first road trip. 

“Oh well,” Marvin shrugged. “It was worth it.” 

Whizzer was smiling. “Yeah. It was _so_ worth it.”

Marvin just couldn’t wait until this whole thing was done with. When Whizzer could come back to school, when he wouldn’t have to deal with all of that legal shit anymore. Marvin couldn’t wait. Soon enough, he knew, but that didn’t seem to _come_ soon enough. Hopefully it wouldn’t be too much longer. 

It would be well worth the wait, though. They would never have to deal with this stuff ever again. Whizzer would be safe, and they would be able to see each other everyday. It was so worth the wait. 

Dropping Whizzer off back at Stella’s house on Monday morning was awful. He didn’t want to say goodbye. Whizzer didn’t want to say goodbye. But, they did. Because they didn’t have a choice. Whizzer had somewhere to be with Stella in a few hours, and Marvin had an hour or so to get ready for school. 

Marvin couldn’t pay attention in school. Well, okay, he paid less attention than he usually did. Charlotte and Cordelia questioned him about it in lunch. 

“You’re less attentive than usual,” Charlotte had said, staring down at the… whatever cafeteria food that was, on her plate. “Are you okay?”

“It’s Whizzer, isn’t it?” Cordelia added on. 

Marvin huffed. “Yeah. I’m just worried about him. He doesn’t look like he’s sleeping well enough, at least when I’m not there. And they’re, like, unintentionally overwhelming him. And he’s so _stubborn_ that he won’t tell them that he needs a break, the weekend’s break was purely because Stella told him that he needed to take a break, and he’s going to end up having a breakdown - if he hasn’t already had one-“

“Marvin, breathe,” Charlotte interrupted. “Everything’s going to turn out okay. Whizzer will be alright - and he’ll be back in school before you know it! He’ll just show up someday. Everything will be alright.” 

“Yeah,” Marvin agreed. “Yes, everything will be alright.”

 

***

 

Whizzer didn’t want to leave his bed after Marvin left. Yet, here he was, in a small, claustrophobic room, with people he didn’t know. Stella couldn’t be there, because she had to work on another case. 

They asked him questions. It didn't seem like it would ever end. 

“When did all of the abuse start?”

“Can’t remember.”

“How old were you the first time you registered it as abuse?”

“Ten, I think.”

“Were you being hit before that?”

“On occasion. Not as bad as it was after ten.”

“Did you mother hit you?”

“A few times. Not as much as dad.”

“Did they abuse you in public?”

“No.”

“Did they tell you not to tell anyone?”

“Yeah. And they threatened to kill me if I did.”

“Who was the first person you told?”

“My boyfriend. And then he told his parents, and they reported it.”

“Your… significant other’s name is…?”

Whizzer stared. “My _boyfriend’s_ name is Marvin. Marvin Blumenfeld.”

He watched as the man wrote down Marvin’s name on a notepad. Then he looked back up at Whizzer. “Were you ever sexually abused?”

The question took Whizzer for surprise, even though he had expected to be asked it at some point. “I…” He mumbled, taking in a deep breath. This wasn’t as easy as he thought it would be. “Yes… Yes, I was.”

“How many times?”

“Twice… Three, but I got away the one time.”

“And what all happened? How far did he go?”

He was _not_ prepared for this question. “He sexually abused me, okay? That’s all there is to it,” Whizzer snapped, without necessarily meaning to. 

But it got the questions to move on. The questioning went on for some time, then he was released to meet up with Stella and go back to her home.


	28. back.

Charlotte was right. 

Marvin didn’t hear from Whizzer for a little over a week. He wasn’t anymore worried than he had been before, because he knew that Stella as along care of him, but it was hard to be without him. It always was. 

But she was right. Marvin walked in to school on a Wednesday morning, with Charlotte and Cordelia behind him. And there he stood. 

At his locker, surrounded by a bunch of students. Whizzer Brown was back in school, and _everyone_ was happy to see him. Whizzer looked overwhelmed, uncomfortable, by the amount of people around him, but he was smiling. It reminded Marvin of the beginning of all of this mess, when Whizzer had first cut his hair and everyone was trying to touch it. 

It brought a smile to his face. 

“See, I told you,” Charlotte told Marvin, grinning at him and nudging his arm. 

Cordelia had already run off, pushing herself through the crowd of people and pulling Whizzer into a large hug. 

 

***

 

Okay, so, maybe he should have come up with a better strategy than just waltzing back into school after disappearing for a few months and going straight to his locker. 

One by one, the entire school’s population arrived at his locker. And they were all talking to him, all asking him different questions about where he’s been and why he’s been gone for so long. He didn’t know what to do. 

Part of Whizzer wanted to just curl up in a ball and wait until they left. The other part of him knew it would be best to just try to answer questions as best as he could until the bell rang. Thankfully, this decision was made for him when Cordelia squirmed her way through the other students, and practically threw herself at him. 

“Whizzer!!” She cried, hugging him tightly. “Oh, god, I missed you so _much!_ I was so _worried!_ I’m so glad you’re back - and you’re okay!”

He laughed, wrapping his arms around her. “Yeah! I’m back. I’m gay, and I’m back!”

And then the _principal_ pushed her way through the crowd. “Alright, alright,” she was saying. “Everyone, go on. Get to your lockers, get to class. Class starts in five minutes, we know that.”

Cordelia squeezed Whizzer’s hand, giving him a bright, cheerful grin, before turning and following the rest of the school to scramble to class. 

The principal put a hand on Whizzer’s shoulder, showing him a rare smile. “Welcome back, Mr. Brown.”

Whizzer still hated being called that, but he wasn’t about to say that to someone like Mrs. Applebaum. “Thank you, ma’am. Glad to be back.”

“Will I see you at tonight’s baseball game?”

“You absolutely will, ma’am.”

“I believe in you, Mr. Brown. I’m trusting you to regain our winning streak.”

“I’ll do my best.”

She patted his shoulder, before turning and heading off as well. He watched her, before going back to his locker and grabbing his things. At least he was caught up with everything, thanks to Stella. He was a little behind in math, but that would be the case whether he went to school everyday or skipped for an entire year. 

“See you at lunch.”

Whizzer jumped at the voice, quickly turning to see who it came from. He watched Marvin’s back walking away from him, and laughed to himself. 

 

***

 

God, why was lunch so far away? 

It was only another half hour, at this point, but time always seemed to slow down in literature class. They were going over yet another poem, one that he knew Whizzer would be in love with. Whizzer’s class had probably already gone over this poem - Whizzer was in AP Literature. 

The lunch bell finally rang, and Marvin _booked_ it out of the classroom. (haha, puns.) He made it to the cafeteria quickly, before Whizzer and either of the girls, to secure a lunch table. 

Cordelia arrived second. Marvin told her to go ahead and get her food, he’d keep the table saved. Charlotte came next, and he told her the same thing. Whizzer eventually entered the lunchroom, after both of the girls had returned from the line with their trays. Marvin went up with Whizzer. 

“You look tired,” Marvin greeted, taking Whizzer’s hand. 

Whizzer grinned at him. “Long day. I forgot how many people like me here.”

That made Marvin laugh. “The whole population likes you.” 

Whizzer hummed in agreement, pecking Marvin’s cheek. “I missed you.”

“I missed you too.” He squeezed Whizzer’s hand gently. “Any good news?”

“They’re in jail. At least ten years time,” Whizzer answered with a shrug. “I’m staying with Stella, for now. But- guess what! Marv, you aren’t going to believe this.”

“What?”

“I mentioned to her our plans - about getting an RV and just living on the road. Remember that?”

“Yeah, of course I remember that. It’s still my only plan for the future that’s actually set in stone. Why?”

Whizzer was practically beaming, radiating excitement. “She’s going to get us an RV! This summer, after we graduate!”

Marvin’s jaw dropped. “What? No way - seriously?”

“Yes!” He cheered. “Seriously! For real!”

Marvin couldn’t help himself. He pulled Whizzer down, into a kiss. Whizzer happily complied. 

“I love you so much,” Marvin murmured, into the kiss. 

Neither one of them cared that people were standing around and watching them. Neither one of them cared about the nasty looks they were getting from some people, or about the looks of pride and happiness. They were in their own world, where neither of them could be happier.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> only two more chapters and this fic will be over! but no worries, i have plans for a sequel to it after this is finished! the next two chapters should be up tomorrow, or the day after! thanks so much for all f the constant support you guys, i’m having so much fun writing this and reading all of your thoughts!!


	29. baseball, part two.

The stands were loud, just as Whizzer had remembered. He sat in the dugout with the other teammates, listening to them discuss something. His attention, however, was searching the stands for the people he really wanted to see. Marvin, Jason, Cordelia, and Charlotte. He couldn’t find them, but he didn’t have a single doubt that they were there. 

“Brown, get over here,” the coach said, snapping Whizzer back to reality. 

He’s never really liked the coach - he kind of reminded Whizzer of his dad, but much less violent and much less alcohol. It was kind of freaky especially now, because his parents were locked up. 

They discussed team strategies, stuff that Whizzer already knew, stuff that the whole _team_ already knew. And then came the blow that Whizzer hadn’t been expecting. 

“Whizzer, you’re staying here until we absolutely need you.”

What? But he had _always_ been one of the first up to bat or pitch, depending on where they started. The team headed out, leaving Whizzer alone in the dugout. 

Well this was fucking shitty. 

 

***

 

“Where’s Whizzer?” Jason kept asking. 

“I don’t know,” Marvin sighed, searching the field. 

Charlotte glanced around. “He’s number five. But I don’t see him out there at all.”

“Surely he didn’t skip,” Cordelia murmured. “He wouldn’t skip. Baseball is one of his favorite things.”

Marvin’s eyes continued to search the field regardless of the fact that Charlotte said she didn’t see him. He _had_ to be out there. He had to. 

\- - -

The game went on for quite some time, and Whizzer never showed. Marvin was getting upset. He was _worried._ After everything that Whizzer has gone through recently, and then for him to just… disappear? 

He tried to think about the game, like everyone around him was doing, but he couldn’t. 

Their school was losing. Again. They _wouldn’t_ be losing if Whizzer was here. 

“Why is our team so bad?” Jason questioned with a huff. “There’s no way we’re going to win.”

“Our team is only bad because Whizzer isn’t here,” Charlotte answered. “He’s the backbone of the whole team. He _is_ the whole team.” 

 

***

 

It was this kid named Joel’s turn to bat. Whizzer was still watching the game, and cringing at everything done wrong. 

Joel paused the game, by holding a hand up. Whizzer watched in shock. What the hell was he doing? 

Then Joel came trotting over to the dugout. Whizzer was just about to question him, when he grabbed Whizzer’s hand and dragged him out to the field. 

Whizzer stood at the batter’s box in shock, as Joel looked their coach in the eyes and handed Whizzer the bat. 

“Welcome back to our star player, _Whizzer Brown!”_ Joel screeched, at the top of his lungs. Whizzer must have been gaping at him, because Joel patted his shoulder and gave him a thumbs up, before jogging off. 

The stands got even louder. Everyone knew that, if anything could save this game, it would most certainly be Whizzer himself. 

He took a deep breath, glancing over the field. Number twenty - Whizzer couldn’t remember the guy’s name - was on third base. If he could just his the ball hard enough…

His thoughts were interrupted by the pitcher starting to throw the ball. 

 

***

 

Marvin didn’t think he’s ever cheered louder in his life. He didn’t understand the purpose of Whizzer being gone for half of the game, but he was _so glad_ that Whizzer was back in the game. 

And everyone else around them was doing the same thing. Screaming, cheering, chanting Whizzer’s name. Marvin looked to his side and smiled when he saw a big grin on Jason’s face. 

“This is how you’re supposed to do it,” Charlotte said, leaning in closer to the two of them and pointing at Whizzer. “That’s how it’s supposed to look.” 

The stands got silent as the ball came flying at Whizzer, and - crack! Out of the park. Whizzer dropped the bat and ran, and so did the other guy on the bases. 

Two home runs. Just like that. Everyone started screaming again. 

It turned out that Whizzer was not only amazing at hitting the balls, he was also amazing at _pitching_ them, too. He managed to strike the other team’s batter’s out with what looked like little struggle on his part. 

“He’s so amazing,” Jason marveled, as they heard the referee yell for the last out. 

 

***

If he could just hit one more home run, their team would be in the lead again. Then, this game wouldn’t be a struggle at all. To be truthful, the team they were playing really wasn’t all that good. At least, in Whizzer’s opinion. He didn’t understand how they had managed to have practically no points before Joel had introduced Whizzer to the game. 

He was up to bat once again. He took in a breath, his eyes locked on the ball, his focus on nothing other than the ball. Then, he let the breath out, swung, and - crack! 

Another hit, out of the park. Nobody else was on the bases this time. He sprinted his way through all three, scoring that one home run that they needed to be in the lead. The stands instantly got louder, and his team cheered, too. He grinned. God, he’s missed this. 

\- - -

They won. Not that it was really a huge surprise to Whizzer, but it _was_ nice. He hung out with the team to celebrate for awhile, before sneaking off to meet with his friends. 

While he was looking, it turned out that they found him first. 

Jason came running and hugged Whizzer excitedly, making him laugh. 

“Hey, kiddo!”

“You’re so amazing, Whizzer!” Jason cheered, stepping back and grinning at him, bouncing on his heels. “The way you bat, the way you pitch-! You’re so _cool!”_

Whizzer grinned and shrugged. “Thanks, Jason. But listen up, okay?” He kneeled down to Jason’s height, poking the boy’s chest gently. “One day, you’re going to end up even better than I am. Got it?”

Jason looked surprised, like he didn’t quite believe it, but he nodded. “Okay.”

“I’ll teach you. I’ll show you all of my techniques, and then you’ll learn some of your own! You’ll be amazing.”

And then he saw Marvin and the lesbians. Whizzer grinned, standing up and hugging Marvin. 

“Why didn’t you play the first half?” Charlotte asked.

Whizzer almost tried to resist the urge to roll his eyes - keyword, _almost._ “Coach decided to have me sit in dugout until they ‘needed me.’ Bet I still would have been there if it wasn’t for Joel.”

Nobody knew who Joel was, but they went with it. 

“They _needed_ you since the very beginning of the game,” Cordelia huffed. “That’s not fair.”

“Bless Joel.” Charlotte said. “Whoever he is, bless him.”

\- - -

They all went out to get ice cream after the game. They invited Trina and Mendel too, because Mendel had sat with them and because when they went to invite him, he was with Trina. They were inseparable. 

Even though Marvin and Trina didn’t necessarily get along all too well, the event went smoothly. Honestly, Marvin was just in good spirits because he had Whizzer at his side once again, and he knew that, this time, it would be permanent.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ggggod one more chapter. i’m so sad that this is so close to being over.


	30. end.

The rest of the school year was a breeze, for the most part. Nothing was completely perfect, and everyone knew that it wouldn’t, but it was perfect enough for them. 

Whizzer did end up in therapy, because of recurring nightmares, PTSD and panic attacks. But, he was getting better. His therapist was kind, and he liked her. It took him awhile to actually come around and willingly talk to her about things, but, with a little push from Marvin and Stella, it became less of a struggle and more of a norm. He saw his therapist every Sunday for awhile, and then appointments started to get moved to only once every two weeks, then once a month, before they finally got to have a termination meeting. Of course, not everything was cured, but he was in a much better place than he had started in. 

He and Marvin spent every free second they could together. Marvin would even sit aside and watch him practice for sports, or join him in clubs just to watch him. They regularly played racquetball at the local gym, and sometimes they would take Jason out and Whizzer would show him some baseball techniques. Marvin loved watching that. Whizzer was so patient with Jason, and he was so supportive, and he got so excited whenever Jason would actually figure something out and do it right. When Whizzer got excited, he hyped Jason up, and Jason would get excited, too. Aside from that, Marvin and Whizzer would also go out and drive every weekend, as long as there were no schedule conflicts. Sometimes, they’d take Cordelia and Charlotte along, but it was usually just them. 

Exams came faster than either of them had expected, but they both managed to pass everything. It was a little close for Whizzer with math and for Marvin with language and writing, but they passed. 

Stella had become close friends to everyone, including Marvin’s parents. They often had so-called ‘family dinners’ at the Blumenfeld’s house, with Whizzer and Stella. With the help of Mr. and Mrs. Blumenfeld, Stella had arranged getting Whizzer and Marvin an RV and having it at her house on one night that the two of them had gone out to play racquetball. 

When they returned home to find the RV in the driveway, both of them were ecstatic. Despite everyone else’s thoughts, they’d decided to hold off on using it until they could plan a _big_ road trip. Neither of them knew when that would be, but they knew that the wait would be worth it. 

Shortly after graduation, both of them ended up in college. Thankfully, they were in the same college - just for different degrees. They both still lived in their respective homes, and still made plenty of time to hang out - with each other, and with Cordelia and Charlotte. Cordelia and Charlotte were both in college as well, at different schools, but it certainly didn’t stop any of them from seeing each other. 

The RV remained mostly untouched until after the two had graduated college and found jobs that would work for them while they were on the road. The time from when they first got it to after college was spent finding extra parts and add-ons that could make their experiences living in it a lot nicer. Then, after graduation, they got everything packed and headed out, to their new life on the open road.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> y i ke s it’s finally finished.   
> chapter one of the sequel will be up sometime tonight, so keep a look out for that if you’re interested! i’ll also post about it on my tumblr, which is the same as my username on here :0


End file.
